SOURCE issue 55 (oct/nov)

#055. SEPT 2011. €5

EUROPEAN SURF/SKATE/SNOW BUSINESS

MASSIVE ATTACK THE LONGBOARD

REVOLUTION IS HERE

SNOWBOARD SALES MARKET ANALYSIS 10/11 THE FIGURES ARE OUT

BIG WIG: DA KINE’S ANDRE PIERRE BONAMY + SKATE HARDGOODS + BODYBOARDING (YES REALLY!) BRAND PROFILES: STANCE, ECOMOANA + FLUX

CONTENTS

055 053

English Editor Jojo Cook jojo@boardsportsource.com

News

Surf and French Editor Iker Aguirre iker@boardsportsource.com

Insight – Sole Technology Retailer Profile

Snowboard Editor Rémi Forsans remi@boardsportsource.com

Longboard Skates

Skateboard Editor Holger Von Krosigk holger@boardsportsource.com

Snowboard Market Analysis

German Editor Stefan Dongus stefan@boardsportsource.com

Skate Hardgoods Big Wig Interview – Dakine

Art Director Owen Tozer at MadeUp owen@boardsportsource.com www.thisismadeup.co.uk

Online Sales

French Editorial Assistant Denis Houillé denis@boardsportsource.com

Bodyboarding Best Sellers

Web & News Editor James Dalzial james@boardsportsource.com

Brand Profile – Flux

Proofreaders Jo Fairweather, Lydia Heckl, Marie-laure Ducos

Brand Profile – Ecomoana

Contributors Remi Forsans, Marcus Chapman, Luke Van Unen, Dirk Vogel, Leo Krajewski, Gordon Way, Uwe Ballon, Franz Holler, Fabien Grisel, Yuri Kolobov

Brand Profile – Stance New Products

Jobs and Distributor Services Digby Reed Digby@boardsportsource.com

Market Intelligence Opportunities

Advertising & Marketing Clive Ripley clive@boardsportsource.com

Events

Germanic Markets Advertising Konrad ‘Kone’ Heigl kone@boardsportsource.com +49 (0) 89 5526 0915

one eyed monster

15 17 19 21 25 31 34 37 41 48 50 52 54 56 58 68 70 72

Production Manager production@boardsportsource.com Accounts Manager accounts@boardsportsource.com To Subscribe www.boardsportsource.com subs@boardsportsource.com Publisher Clive Ripley clive@boardsportsource.com Published by Extreme Sport Business 22 Friars Street, Sudbury Suffolk, CO10 2AA. UK Boardsport SOURCE is published bi-monthly © Extreme Sport Business.

All Rights Reserved www.boardsportsource.com

On The Cover

Tibs Sector9 sales, France

CONTENTS As above.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in any retrieval system of any nature without prior written permission, except for permitted fair dealing under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. Application for permission for use of copyright material including permission to reproduce extracts in other public works shall be made to the publishers. Full acknowledgement of author, publisher and source must be given. The views expressed in this publication are not those necessarily held by the Publisher.

ISSN # 1478-4777

Just as we sat down to write this editorial introducing the new issue, a letter from the W.A.S group addressed to the International Olympic Committee went viral. For those of you who don’t know, W.A.S is a group of leading snowboarders who have set up their own union called We Are Snowboarding to lobby for the interests of riders (www.wearesnowboarding.com). Even though the relationship between snowboarding and the Olympics has been a hugely contentious issue for years, it’s still unfinished business. But now with the added issue of riders combining the risks involved in raising the bar, within a truly chaotic and crowded calendar that leaves them tired and jet lagged, and much more vulnerable to injury. With the FIS refusing to cooperate with other event organisers and operating as a law unto itself, it’s only a matter of time before we read of a snowboarder spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

Don’t think snowboarding is alone. The freeski community is also in a similar situation with the FIS, with decisions being made with little outside involvement of riders or even organisers. In fact if you add it all together it’s a generational battle between the old conservative FIS, who want complete control of these new disciplines,

as they are the future money earners, and the whole youth segment of the wintersports industry, who want to be involved in the future of the sports they have created. But as the FIS has no interest in collective solutions, as they have recently demonstrated yet again, this time with the TTR, then it’s time to put pressure on the IOC who sit on top of the FIS and make them realise that there are a lot of unhappy people, both riders and industry who have spent their lives building their sport and who are asking for some involvement in decisions that effect their livelihood and their lives.

So it’s time to get off our collective backsides and download the letter from dl.dropbox.com/ u/22218771/Letter.jpg. Pick up a pen, sign a letter and fax the document. It will take each of us just five minutes to do, but if enough of us do it, then it could give snowboarding back some control over its competitive future and more importantly create a safer environment for all competitors.

We hope you enjoy the new issue.

Always sideways, SOURCE Editorial team.

www.boardsportsource.com

13

055

INDUSTRY news O’NEILL SKULLCANDY BUYS ITS EUROPEAN HITS SIXTY DISTRIBUTOR Skullcandy has completed the purchase of all outstanding stock of Kungsbacka 57 AB, a subsidiary of 57 North AB for $18.6 million, including $2.9 million in product inventory, regaining control of product distribution throughout Europe (excluding the sales agency rights for its consumer electronics channel in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway until 2016). Skullcandy has also obtained consumer lists, and hired two key Directors from 57 North AB who have strong relationships in the European market. CEO and President, Jeremy Andrus, commented; “Central to our international strategy is direct distribution in key markets, and we are very excited about the growth opportunities in Europe and our ability to directly manage our business in this region. Similar to the United States, we plan to replicate elements of our successful grass roots marketing model by sponsoring internationally-based athletes, DJs, musicians, artists and events, and by creating localised content to drive sales.

KOOEY SWIMWEAR BUYS WEST

Since April 2011 West have been looking for a buyer and have now been purchased by Perth swimwear label Kooey Australia. Designed and made in Western Australia, Kooey is an entirely Australian owned and operated swimwear label. West and Kooey’s staff will merge and the plan is to grow and develop the swimwear and apparel ranges for West.

GYMKHANA GOES LARGE DC’s Ken Block has released the fourth installment of his Gymkhana precision driving series. With seven million views in its first two weeks, it rapidly became the fastest-spreading viral video on the Internet. The entire Gymkhana franchise has now generated over 120 million views and has fuelled the sales of DC's TeamWorks collection.

SIXTH ANNUAL WORLD SNOWBOARD DAY DEC 18TH It’s time again for the international day created for snowboarders, by snowboarders, and intended to promote snowboarding to the general public.

Last year WSD took place in 38 countries, spread across 160 different events, and attracted more than 25,000 participants. So join in and run an event on the day in your shop or on your mountain and help grow the sport.

It's a global event with the SIA in North America and also CorePower Asia promoting it.

As a precursor to celebrating their 60th year in business O’Neill have published a 256 page book titled ‘Jack O’Neill, It’s Always Summer on the Inside’, tracing Jack O’Neill’s invention of the wetsuit and the evolution of the brand. In 1952, Jack O’Neill opened the doors to the world’s first surf shop in his garage, then relocated it to San Francisco then Santa Cruz where the original shop is still located on 41st Avenue. Since then O’Neill has become one of the biggest names of the surf business. As Jack O’Neill put it, "I’m just a surfer who wanted to build something that would allow me to surf longer." Some of the most respected surfers and ocean-oriented icons, including Bruce Brown, Shaun Thomson, Robby Nash, Tom Current, Fred Van Dyke and Jody Smith help tell the story.

SURF EXPO GETS NEW OWNERS GLM ‘George Little Management’ the company that runs Surf Expo and 14 other trade shows has been bought by Providence Equity Partners. GLM’s other shows are in industries as diverse as giftware, home furnishings, social stationery, home textiles, tabletop, gourmet house wares, contemporary furniture, personal care, art and design, antique jewellery, fashion and hospitality. Providence Equity Partners is a leading global private equity firm specialising in equity investments in media, communications, information services and education companies around the world.

BODY GLOVE BUILDS WITH STALLION

The Stallion Sport group, the worldwide Body Glove functional gear licensee, has opened a European office and set up a new distribution and sales network for Europe. The functional gear categories contain wetsuits, dive suits, aquatics, rash guards, vests, boards, protective gear and accessories. Stallion Sport has been the worldwide Body Glove licensee for more than 20 years. Europe has now been added to the license agreement and the European Headquarters are based near Cologne, Germany. Stallion Sport has set up a new network for distribution and sales for the long term by appointing partners across Europe with the exception of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, which are handled directly by Stallion Sport Europe GmbH from the European office by their internal sales staff.

MATIX REFOCUS ON MEN Podium Distribution, Matix’s owners, have announced that they will be discontinuing Matix girl’s business after the 2011 holiday season to better focus on their men's line. This decision will enable Matix to allocate all its resources to developing its men’s strategic growth plan.

For up to the minute news goto: www.boardsportsource.com

15

more INDUSTRY news NEW CEO AT HOLDEN Ben Pruess, formerly Global VP of ‘Originals’ at adidas in Germany is the new CEO at Holden. He brings over 20 years of professional experience in the sport and street wear business including time at Bonfire, Salomon, Airwalk and Rev Snowboards. Pruess will oversee Holden’s direction and strategic development as well as daily management of the organisation and joins Scott Zergebel and Mikey LeBlanc at Holden’s headquarters in Portland, Oregon, USA.

HURLEY GETS NEW CEO Mike Egeck is the new boss at Hurley. Bringing nearly 30 years of experience, he was recently President of True Religion Brand Jeans and prior to that he was President of VF Contemporary Coalition and CEO for Seven for All Mankind. He has also acted as President of VFC’s Outdoor and Action Sports Coalition. He will report directly to Roger Wyett, President of Nike Affiliates.

RIDE ON A MISSION RIDE Snowboards has appointed MISSION as their new distributor in Poland. In addition the Mission team will also service the exclusive sales for LINE Skis, Full Tilt ski boots and 5150 Snowboards within the region.

SHAUN WHITE GETS GUMMY Shaun White now endorses chewing gum.

According to a story on The New York Times, the product is called Whitemint, a new line at Stride gum, part of Kraft foods. Given Shaun’s ranking as the second most powerful athlete of 2011 in Bloomberg Businessweek, no doubt his face will be appearing on a billboard near you soon.

TTR & WSF EXTEND PARTNERSHIP TTR and WSF are extending their partnership to 2014. TTR will continue to focus on the progression of higher level events and top riders and has granted the WSF the exclusive worldwide right to approve any grassroots events for the TTR World Snowboard Tour on the one – three star levels. The WSF will be offering a range of new services and will continue to work closely with National Snowboard Associations. The WSF will use the same star category and points system as the TTR ranking and will also offer a national ranking for youth riders (boys/girls) in three different age categories: Open, Rookie and Grom for all disciplines.

16.

055

industry insight

the market needs to ask us to come back in a strong way.

THE FIRST LEDGE Following the cancellation of the HUB trade show in Bristol, the organisers of the London Edge took the opportunity to launch a new UK skate and adrenaline lifestyle trade show. So in early September the Ledge Show at the National Hall Olympia in London went down with a selection of around 20 exhibitors including key brands and distributors, including We Are Rock Solid, Raw Blue, Form Distribution and Jett 26. With its own street skating course, the show was held on the gallery level of Olympia’s National Hall at the same time and in the exhibition complex as two current and longer standing shows London Edge and London Central. Simeon Hartwig, founder of the clothing apparel brand Bantum was satisfied; “The skate park within it was dope with pros from all round the UK representing the brands on show. Ledge has the potential to be the mini ISPO of the UK. Key buyers came through. At a hard time for the economy the organisers have stepped up and put in place some good foundations, creating good vibes where businessmen rub shoulders with skaters.

That’s how it should be as both need each other to grow.”

At a tough time for the economy across Europe much praise went to the organisers for stepping up and providing a much needed skate show in the UK and the plan is to shift the timing of the show next year to early February. Everyone agreed as long as skate brands and distributors came together providing a much-needed focal point during the selling seasons. Ledge Managing Director Carole Hunter commented; “Our plan was to introduce The Ledge Show to the buying community on a modest scale in 2011. Feedback from buyers and exhibitors has been largely positive and we hope to increase the floor space and profile of the skate wear exhibition in the coming seasons.”

SESSIONS GOES ITS OWN WAY Two years after Samsung Clothing and Textile America bought into Sessions, the two have decided to split. Samsung provided two years of production funding enabling Sessions to continue production and distribution of their 2010 and 2011 outerwear lines. Sessions, still majority owned by Cindi Busenhart and Joel Gomez, survives the credit crunch and returns to its independent roots.

EXTREMEHORIZON LTD WHOLESALE REBRANDS AS LEFT POINT UK based Extremehorizon Distribution was established in 2005 to handle the wholesale supply of one product to the European action sports trade. The business has grown exponentially and it now carries twenty-two brands, hundreds of product lines and has a global network of distribution partners supplying action sports stores in five continents. From Sept 2011 wholesale operation is to be renamed ‘Left Point Distribution’ and the ownership, along with the trading premises, existing logistics, supply chains, customer base and accounting structure etc. will all remain unchanged whilst the retail operation will retain the Extremehorizon name but will be a separate logistical entity, with its own dedicated team, no longer associated with the distribution operation.

EUROSIMA SURF INDUSTRY AWARD WINNERS The annual Waterman’s ball in Hossegor Eurosima presented its 2011 awards in early October.

The winners were Andy Irons for the Special Tribute Award, Notox Surfboards for the Ecological Innovation Award, Billabong for the Surf Ad Campaign of the year, Vans for Best Performing Brand, Jeremy Flores for European Athlete of the Year and a Lifetime Achievement Award went to Bruno Débauché Beach Brother Magazine. A full report of this surf summit conference will appear in the next issue.

www.boardsportsource.com : for up to the minute news

SOURCE: What was the reason, ultimately, for putting the brand on hold?

P-A.S: We’ve been making skate shoes for over 25 years now and etnies was the first skater-owned shoe company. In the ‘90s the economy picked up and skateboarding was on a growth spurt again. We were able to create more footwear companies. Everything was good until we reached a point where we realised we had too much going on. We knew that for etnies, Emerica, and éS to grow we needed to focus, so at that time we let some things go because we needed focus if we were to continue to be a profitable company.

SOURCE: Did recent market developments for skateboarding and shoes also play a role?

P-A.S: The market dynamics today have changed. The population of skateboarders has declined, core retailers are challenged with too many choices, new mainstream non-skate companies have bought their way in, and there are more skateboard brands in the market place than ever.

SOURCE: Was the trend toward plain, vulcanized shoes difficult to align with the és formula?

P-A.S: éS was always about delivering technical, premium skateboard footwear. When the market shifted to cheaper, vulcanized shoes, it really took away the demand for what the brand stood for. It is hard for éS to go down to that level and so it has been a major factor as to why we’re experiencing difficulties with it.

THE END OF AN éRA Sole Technology Owner and CEO Pierre-Andre Senizergues talks to SOURCE about their recent decision to put the éS footwear brand on hold.

Interview by Dirk Vogel.

In 1995, éS Footwear blazed its own trail as an exclusive, top-shelf brand, both in terms of riders and products. The skate team has always consisted of the cream of the crop, and offerings such as the Koston pro shoe raised the bar in terms of technical refinement (and acceptable price points) for skate shoes.

With 16 years of groundbreaking history under its belt, the announcement in August 2011 that éS Footwear would be put on an indefinite creative pause sent shockwaves around the industry.

SOURCE: Pierre-Andre, the éS brand is going into a ‘creative retreat’ what is the timeline for this change?

P-A.S: éS will continue as planned through to the end of the Spring 2012 season so there is still time for consumers to get their hands on product.

Right now with this temporary creative retreat, we are seeking what the marketplace will be looking for next. Everyone is looking at what is going on right now, but éS has always delivered on what is next; pushing things to new levels.

SOURCE: Is this a heavy-hearted decision? What will you miss about éS and what are the best memories?

P-A.S: There are so many things that made this decision difficult, especially knowing how much I’ve loved creating and building the brand over the years.

In making the decision, I think all of us sat around the table and all we could see were the successes that we’ve experienced with éS for skateboarding – the iconic product that we know we’ve brought to the market that has made a difference and how it helped innovate and push skateboarding to new levels. I don’t think people realise just how hard it has been to make the decision to park it in the garage for a bit, so that we can retool it and bring it out again when the time is right.

SOURCE: In the meanwhile, will Sole Technology retain full ownership and control of the brand?

P-A.S: Definitely. Our intention is to bring it back at the optimal time. The market conditions have to improve. Everyone knows it’s challenging, but

SOURCE: What will happen to the current skate team and employees of èS? P-A.S: We’re skateboarders and so we’ll of course always take care of our riders. They are family to us and we will honour their contracts. We’re still working through the details with them. The good thing is that even though they ride for éS, they are still part of Sole Technology, so it gives us strong options for working with them in the future.

SOURCE: How will this decision affect retailers and distributors in Europe?

P-A.S: Retailers and distributors will of course feel the impact of this decision, but we see it from two sides. éS will be missed, but there are still opportunities to buy éS products all the way through spring 2012. After spring ‘12, there will be much more energy and focus going into Emerica, etnies and Altamont and sell through will increase for our retail partners.

SOURCE: What will this mean for the other brands in Sole Tech's line up?

P-A.S: The important part of having multiple brands is making sure each brand has clear distinctions and that they don’t cannibalise each other. Now we will have an intensified focus on Emerica, which is 100% skateboarding, etnies that represents all of action sports, 32 that makes the best snowboard boots and outerwear, and Altamont, which is the apparel brand within Sole Technology. Right now, we’re working hard to keep the growth going on our other brands and with that we’re embracing SKU efficiency across the board.

Our men’s category is seeing growth and Europe continues to be a strong market for us. 32 will continue to build upon our robust snowboard boots program and our expansion plans for outerwear are on track and moving forward. Emerica remains solid and consistent in all product offerings and has even booked at 49% growth for early bookings for SP12. Altamont will stay on track with its original promise to be Sole Technology’s premiere apparel brand with double-digit growth this season and we remain committed to build it into a powerhouse brand.

SOURCE: And finally, to clear the rumours, is SoleTech okay?

P-A.S: Yes, we are okay, thanks for asking. The popular expression “less things better” truly applies to us within this situation. Though it was an incredibly hard decision for us to make, we knew that if we wanted to stay competitive in the complex marketplace, we needed to focus. We are confident that taking a break with éS for a bit of time will allow our teams to focus on delivering the best that they can on the brands that are our strongest.

Thanks for the interview Pierre-Andre.

For up to the minute news goto: www.boardsportsource.com

17

retailer profile

NATIVE NEWCASTLE ENGLAND

The owner of Native skate store David Whitelaw believes that the skate business isn’t doing too badly, and the good old days may even make a revival, if we can just hold tight. Interview by Leo Krajewski.

Can you give us a brief history of your store including when it all started, who started it and who the key players are?

Native opened in February 2003, in a back street in Newcastle upon Tyne. I was tired of not being able to find a decent board locally and after trading out of the boot of my car for years beforehand I stepped up the game and went for it. The key players here are myself, Kate (She’s been here since day one, I would be lost without her) and Johnny.

What are the benefits of having a physical store over having an online shop?

A physical store is great as customers can come in and check out/feel/try stuff on and you get to talk to your customers. Our store acts as a hub for the local skateboard community. We also do a lot of business online and try really hard to make it as easy as possible for the online customer by having hi-res multi angle pictures and decent product descriptions.

You claim to be the only specialist ‘skater owned’ skate store in your area. Where is a skater’s approach to business different?

We differ in our approach by thinking about the brands we stock and treating skateboarders as human beings. We support skateboard companies as good we can by stocking a good range and paying on time. If we all fill our shops with sportswear brands and major jean companies, then there’ll be no money going back into skateboarding.

What is the product mix of your store?

I’d say we’re 45% hardware, 30% footwear and 25% clothing.

With what brands do you do most volume?

On the hardware front mainly domestic brands, but we do sell a lot of US stuff, and the footwear side I’d say its Nike SB followed by Lakai.

Clothing-wise we do well with LRG, Enjoi and Diamond Supply Co. Brands like The Hundreds are killing it on the cap front. There’s a real cap craze going on at the moment.

How do you stay in touch with the needs and wants of your customers?

By being on the shop floor every day and handling the customer service side of the website I get to talk to skateboarders directly. I’m also on it with regards to talking to distributors and keeping my eye on what’s coming in and who’s doing what.

How does the current economy affect your store? Were core skate stores hit harder by the recession than the big chains and department stores?

Well I’d say about two years ago it really made an impact on peoples spending and we were cautious for a while. I’ve found that online has actually grown through this period and has taken the heat off the shop a little. I think that core stores probably weren’t hit as hard as the bigger chains, as it’s easier to cut back when you’re smaller. Most people I know within the industry tightened their belts a little and are still here doing it now.

From your prospective what does the future hold for the skate industry in the UK? I think it’s healthy right now and it can hopefully stay like this. There are so many quality skate parks around these days. I think we all just need to take it easy and if the market picks up then the good old days may come back.

Does you store sponsor athletes, competitions, etc. and what are the benefits?

We have a growing shop team that we help out and get involved with local competitions when we can. I like helping out the team and it’s great to see them getting recognition and getting hooked up. We run the odd competition and there’s a good crew of older guys who are on it and like to organise skate comps. I’m down to help out where I can, as these grass-roots events are great for the local scene.

Where do you hope your business will be in five years?

In five years time I hope that our online business has grown enough to take the heat off the actual store.

What is the biggest challenge an independent retailer faces today and how do you meet the challenge?

Being able to pay the bills. In the UK we have a higher rate of VAT now and the rent is going up. Trying to compete with the big guys and multiples, which have big marketing budgets and the staff and inventory to match. It’s hard doing what we do but I wouldn’t change it.

Where can we check out your shop, team and stuff?

Our main site is www.nativeskatestore.co.uk and for Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/NativeSkate-Store/169650743612 If you’re ever in Newcastle upon Tyne do drop by and say hello.

www.nativeskatestore.co.uk

www.boardsportsource.com

19

trend report

Alternative Longboards and Cruisers Market Trend Report 2011

Transport

The ‘alternative skateboards’ segment has seen tremendous growth over the past few years, and is still gaining momentum. Our SOURCE Trend Report has the short and skinny on long boards and fat cruisers. By Dirk Vogel.

Let’s face it: The average skateboard today remains basically unchanged since the early ‘90s in terms of materials and construction. But recently, a new breed of longboards and cruisers has been popping up – not necessarily at skate spots, but on hills, sidewalks and boulevards – with original new shapes, bigger wheels, and specialised components.

This trend is making retailers happy, but skate companies like 5Boro are already firing back with “F**k Longboards” board graphics. The Slap Forums are ablaze with longboard hatred, and a Tumblr photo blog is denouncing “Wrongboarding” under the headline, “Stoops, you’re doing it wrong.”

The whole phenomenon is looking a lot less “stoops” in light of recent sales statistics, for instance the panel on US retail figures for the year 2010 compiled by market intelligence agency ActionWatch: by the end of last year, sales of complete longboards had grown by 48% and long decks by 37%, while regular completes rose by only 14% and “short deck” sales dropped 14%. And because longboards are inherently more expensive – long completes average $187 – overall revenue from long completes is almost on par with the entire regular deck category!

No more “typical” customers

“We believe longboarding is such a fast growing division of the hardgoods market that what's defined as a ‘typical longboard rider’ is now, more than ever, expanding,” said Chuck DeMoss, Sales Manager at Select Distribution (Palisades Longboards, SIMS Skateboards, Smith Safety Gear), adding: “More and more guys who rode in the ‘70s and early ‘80s are picking up longboarding. The younger ‘core’ skate population is gravitating towards speed as well. Even more girls are cruising down the street on a longboard.”

On that note: The increase in female riders is confirmed by all brands.

Core retailer Bård Grøttum of Badlands Skateshop in Tromsø, Norway, has his own theory: “I would like to draw a line between longboards and cruisers. In my mind there's a big difference.” To Bård, longboard customers are “mostly people who tried skateboarding but couldn't hack it,” while the cruisers are a “big hit” with the regular skate community. “We've got shitty asphalt, so the cruisers are a must.” According to Bård, the cruiser phenomenon kicked off

in 2006 with the first Krooked Zip Zinger complete. He estimates that 70% of skateboarders in town have cruisers now, which account for 15-20% of all summer board sales.

At Sector 9, the company credited with establishing the cruiser phenomenon into a full-fledged hardgoods segment, European Brand Manager Sylvain Torres said: “For the cruisers there’s no typical type of customer, they’re kids, youth, dads, girls, and so on, basically people who wants to get into skating but aren’t specially interested in doing tricks…They just want to ride a skateboard.”

A recent surge in demand

Core manufacturers have noticed a pronounced spike in demand during recent seasons: “It’s pretty much been a steady progression, with its fair share of ups and downs, since we started ten years ago. A sharp increase in sales was noticed at the tail end of 2010,” said Darren Rathbone, Production Director at Vandem MFG (Lush Longboards, Sabre Trucks, Cult Wheels).

Globe has emerged as a major player in the longboard and cruiser market since starting this segment three years ago. “We've experienced phenomenal growth in this hardgoods category over the past three to four seasons,” said Matt Wong, President of Globe's Product Division, adding: “Having our own wood shop, through our ownership of Dwindle Distribution, which runs some of the world's premier skate brands, means we have extremely high quality product and technology. But we really made a big effort to give the retailer good margins and offer an extremely competitive price for the end consumer.”

Element also created a new cruiser segment in their line-up, says European marketing manager Phil Lalemant, because skaters are looking for “a cool board to cruise the city with. This is the whole reason why we called the program ‘TRAVEL WELL: Alternative Transportation Vehicle.’ They are boards to go from point A to point B and preferably they need to be short enough to ollie a curb with, too.”

Market leader Sector 9 opened a European Headquarter in Hossegor, France

For up to the minute news goto: www.boardsportsource.com

21

trend report

Hot, hot items

Brands are supporting shops with displays, free test boards and collateral.

“I think if you are a skateboard shop already, it shouldn't really take much time and effort to become a longboard stockist. A bit of reading up on the Internet and listening to what your local riders are after and you are good to go,” said Darren Rathbone at Vandem MFG (Lush Longboards, Sabre Trucks, Cult Wheels).

A good selection is key, said Matt Wong at Globe: “The retailers who have the best sell through with our program have a longboard rack which is fully stocked, and a sales staff who can help customers choose the right board.”

Speaking of stocking up, here are some hot items to look out for this season:

“For the cruisers there’s no typical type of customer, they’re kids, youth, dads, girls, and so on, basically people who wants to get into skating but aren’t specially interested in doing tricks…They just want to ride a skateboard.”

Sylvain Torres, Sector 9.

earlier this year, replete with a new distribution model for Europe. Asked about sales in Europe, Sylvain Torres explained: “We have no historic figures for all of Europe, but regarding what the different Sector 9 former distributors did in Europe, we increased the sales compared to the same period last year.” In France, where the company has a longer history, Sylvain confirmed “a bigger demand in the past two or three years.”

Bård at Badlands shop sells plenty of Krooked Zip Zingers and Creature Brue Killers. Richie Löffler at Mantis Lifestore in Hamburg is moving Loaded, Indiana, Fullbag and MDCN Cruizer boards, and wheels by Orangatang.

Christof at Indiana Longboards points out the Fast Chief, a flexy longboard with lowered trucks, as well as the Baton Chief, Chief 85, Fat Chief and the Big Chief models.

Lush Longboards “has had a complete shake up of its product line up for 2012,” said Darren Rathbone, with new tweaks on proven classics including the two all-time best-selling comletes: “the ‘Elevator’ is essentially what was called the ‘Samba’ and the ‘Generator’ was called the ‘Kilima.’” Lush Slide Gloves are also a big hit, including the updated Race Glove with Kevlar fingertips. Sabre Trucks have doubled their offering for next season and the soft Traction Beam wheel by Cult Wheels is on fire.

Bestsellers at Globe include the Sun City, Sea Pals (collaboration with NEFF), Beirdo, and Catalina boards. Hottest products at Sector 9 are “the cruisers and the limited Bob Marley Series. The all-time bestseller is the Cosmic 2, but nowadays the bestsellers are located in the Sidewinder series,” said Sylvain Torres.

One of Europe’s oldest manufacturers has been in business since 1989: Indiana Longboards in Wald, Switzerland, proves a constant innovator, promoting the sport with events such as the Burning Wheels street race tour.

“We are still growing strongly on foreign markets, while our home market in Switzerland is still pretty tough,” said Indiana’s founder, Christof Peller.

The stars in Palisades Longboards line-up are the Drop Thru boards, and also the Artist Series, featuring surf-inspired artists such as Drew Brophy, Rick Rietveld, and Joe Aaron. The SIMS Downhill Composite Series just started with the bottom mount Blade and the drop thru Grand Prix model.

For Spring 12, the highlights at Element are the Davidson and Garcia Day Trippin' boards.

Continued innovation

Where to now?

Deck construction is also a focus at Sector 9, especially “different composites such as Maple, Birch, Bamboo, Fiberglass and Carbon layers, which gives the boards different flex characteristics,” said Sylvain Torres, adding: “We also worked with GullWing on our trucks set-ups over the years and developed some very innovative systems such as the Sidewinder, the truck with a double Kingpin that gives you a very similar sensation of snowboarding and surfing, and the Stalker Truck with its patented vibration damping system.”

Looking ahead, only time will tell if the “alternative boards” segment will become a staple at board shops in the next five to ten years. “We’ve been around for 20 years and have always believed in it, even when it was not yet a trend. Today we are still working on new ideas for better skateboards every day, and seeing a new generation of longboarders grow up is nice; it’s a motivation,” said Christof at Indiana. Bård at Badlands said: “I think the cruisers are staying. The trend will die out, but you'll always want to have that cool looking board with softer wheels, just for cruising to the store or whatever.”

Globe received a great response for EVA tail pads similar to surf traction pads, which they pioneered as an accessory. “We also drive technology through some of the materials we use such as fibreglass and carbon fibre, and we offered the first magnesium inverted truck to the market, which are lighter than normal trucks. We also have introduced moulded metal trims, which are routered and glued into the decks, as well as woven patches,” said Matt Wong.

Sylvain at Sector 9 remains optimistic: “If this phenomenon is a temporary trend on the mainstream market, we can’t tell you how long it will stay this way. What we know is that we are sited in the boardsport culture. We are linked with it. And I don’t think we have reached the top yet, there is still a great potential.”

All the Internet pundits rallying against “wrongboarding” are failing to notice the massive amount of innovation in the alt-board segment. Indiana Longboards won ISPO’s Best New Brand Award in 2000 for pioneering longboards with snowboard-like flex, together with Seismic skateboard trucks for optimal turning. Christof Peller also notes that all Indiana boards are still hand-made. Chuck DeMoss at Palisades Longboards points out: “We are pressing layers of Canadian maple with the top and bottom layers composed of a hard resin laminate skin. It gives the exterior a sleek and unique look unlike anything on the market.”

22.

www.boardsportsource.com

Most brands agree that Europe is still catching up on this trend. “The US and especially California is ahead of the EU because of the close connection between surfing and skateboarding. It's a historical difference,” said Phil at Element. “Skateboarding is part of the culture over there and its never been uncommon to see someone cruising down the road to the beach with a surfboard under their arm.” Chuck at Palisades notes: “We’re seeing Europe increase its target markets, for example slalom, downhill, and cruisers, which is always great.”

Sales Analysis

market analysis

Winter 2010/11 The 2010/2011 winter season was bipolar. After getting off to a remarkable start with record levels of snow, the New Year celebrations came and the mood suddenly changed, becoming seriously dry and warm. The consequences on our industry were felt almost immediately - once again, we saw how the weather is so inextricably linked to our sport.

So even though it wasn’t raining and the valleys were still full of precious white gold, riders were put off by the warm, springlike temperatures. Reports of bad conditions spread like wildfire and in an already pinched economy, many simply decided not to go. The outcome: no one on the mountain. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the USA and Canada was experiencing record-breaking, dangerous levels of snow. But before we get too emotional, let’s look at the facts and the figures in the annual sales analysis. Research, text and analysis by Remi Forsans.

This year SOURCE magazine chose St. Anton in the Austrian Arlberg as the venue for the seventh European Snowboard Forum. With a full schedule and lots of attendees, the forum remains the event where all the results of a market study are analysed following a statistical cross analysis of answers collected from questionnaires sent out across the industry.

The European Market: figures by country

In December 2010, we had hopes of a return to growth, predicting up to a +4% increase in unit sales. Alas, we experienced the opposite. Due to the shortage of snow, coupled with either polar or spring-like temperatures, 2010 goes down as one of the warmest winters of all time – higher than the temperatures of 2005. As a result, we saw sales go down by 4%. Given the conditions, this figure is tolerable, and put it into context of skiing, which saw a decline in sales from 11 million pairs of skis down to 3.5 million over the last 30 years, of which 1.3 million were in Europe. Snowboard sales remain at around 27% of the volume of skis sold worldwide. Therefore we conclude the decrease in sales last winter was in fact fairly limited.

This year it was once again the traditional European alpine countries that were hit the hardest, losing on average about 7% per country. The countries most affected in volume, and in order were: Switzerland, Germany, France.

The UK is also going through a rough patch. In the good news section, we note the return of Russia, Sweden and Italy into the black. Russia has even recorded growth of 10% and finishes in fifth place on the European market.

The top trio remains unchanged, the market dominated by Germany then

Switzerland then France. Just like last year, 81.5% of European sales are accounted for by just nine countries while the total share of the Eastern European countries remains at 18% despite the return of Russia. The market is geographically stabilising a bit. Over the last six winters, we have lost around 113,000 boards, 123,000 pairs of boots and 122,000 pairs of bindings.

That represents around about the total seasonal sales of France, Austria and Russia together.

The market in Europe: Turnover based on retail price The overall European market is worth about ¤259.5 million (based on retail price), which represents a 4.5% decrease on last year. This decrease follows on logically from the decrease in volume from a season with no major innovations to reverse it: • 74% of sales are from men's products compared to 75% last season • 22% of sales are from women's products compared to 21% last season, affirming a slight increase in value • 4% are children's products just like last season 47% of hardgoods sales in the 2010/2011 winter were from snowboards compared to 46% in the previous year. The impact of innovations last season in the boots and bindings domain, with the BOA and the back-step system, seems to have worn off but has nevertheless helped the two segments amount to 53% of the overall hardgoods sales.

For up to the minute news goto: www.boardsportsource.com

25

market analysis

2010/2011 Trends

Last year we finished this article by announcing an upward trend because of rather encouraging orders taken at the end of March 2010, this was of course not taking into account risks associated with weather. So, the same thing goes for 2012 and although this should be taken with a pinch of salt, this increase should come in at around 1% to 2% of the total hardgoods sales for the coming winter. To our great surprise, helmets and goggles are completely collapsing, has the market been saturated? It has to be said that a plethora of brands have invested in this sector.

Market share in Europe: standings by brand

Cross analysis of information sent back by the industry allows us to estimate the positioning of brands in Europe by product segment: Burton, still Burton. The market leader maintains its leadership (table 2), despite outsiders whose volumes are continually catching the American giant up and closing the gap. Nitro snowboard takes second place in board sales. Third place in the standings is always hotly contested between Salomon and K2 followed by Ride but this year it is the Americans K2 and Ride who overtake the French brand Salomon and its special task forces. The surprise of this winter is the arrival of Lib Tech into the top European brands, toe-to-toe with Head. Voelkl and Rome reassert their own positions within the market.

Finally we see the return of Rossignol into the thick of it, seemingly wanting to make a come back. Nidecker always make a noteworthy appearance on the European market.

Distribution:

Distribution in towns is accelerating compared to resorts with 64% market share compared to 61% last year (in the hardgoods sector). Rentals are stable despite the fluctuations in snowfall with around 22% participation, much like last year. Pro-shops are continuing to strengthen their share at 33% of total equipment sales compared to 31% and 26% in the previous two winters.

Pro-shops have therefore become dominant in the last three seasons and their contribution now represents a third of the market in Europe. The share increase of the pro-shops is a strong trend and we were talking about this last year. The market is condensing but the specialist retailers are staying true and not turning to opportunism. This stability and loyalty represent one of our sports’ most vital organs and this is very much envied by others.

Imagine how difficult it can be sometimes to sell sporting goods in a market ultra dominated by Decathlon and its brands, seconded by Intersport and its myriad of shops whose supply is regulated by employed buyers.

Market segmentations: by price, discipline & gender

Men’s snowboards with a retail price of between ¤200 - ¤400 represent 57% of products sold compared to 60% last year. The segment leading bracket is between ¤300 - ¤400 with 34% of total sales (table 4). Products over ¤400 are strengthening their position. This significant price increase of boards is due in large part, as stated last year, to the arrival of new camber technologies but also to the recent arrival of the latest freeride and touring boards. Touring is a segment in expansion; the sport's demographics largely justifies this niche, which understands how to combine the joy of an outdoor, environmental pursuit with the logical evolution of our sport. At the last SIA in Denver, the number of brands developing this aspect was simply astounding.

In women's products (table 5), products of less than ¤400 (retail price) constitute 84% of total sales. The leading price bracket is also between ¤300 - ¤400 retail price. Segments above ¤400, contrary to men's, is weakening a bit - it's all about convincing women to get into touring guys!

The practice of freestyle had relatively sharply decreased in previous years but has come back strong with an increase of over 6% to make a total of 41% of the sport. The leading segment freeride/freestyle (43% of sales) continues its rupture towards a more freeride/backcountry agenda. This is certainly due to the age of participants. Like in men's, this trend is strong in women's and freestyle's growth continues, also positioning itself at 41% of

26.

www.boardsportsource.com

Country

Boards Sold

% of Market

2010vs2009

2010vs2009

GERMANY

51225

15%

-6.4%

-3489

SWITZERLAND

45681

13.4%

-7.6%

-3748 -3412

FRANCE

45445

13.3%

-7.0%

AUSTRIA

36688

10.8%

-7.0%

-2741

RUSSIA

33326

9.8%

+10.6%

+3183

ITALY

26353

7.7%

+1.9%

+496

UK

14198

4.2%

-9.2%

-1445

SPAIN

12597

3.7%

+0.8%

+97

BENELUX

12595

3.7%

-4.3%

-572

SWEDEN

11204

3.3%

+10.2%

+1037

FINLAND

10744

3.2%

-9.2%

-1090

NORWAY

10354

3.0%

-4.4%

-479

CZECH REPUBLIC

9614

2.8%

-11.9%

-1303

POLAND

9347

2.7%

-0.2%

-20

SLOVENIA

1882

0.6%

N/A

N/A

DENMARK

1611

0.5%

N/A

N/A

SERBIA MONTENEGRO

1397

0.4%

N/A

N/A

HUNGARY

1336

0.4%

N/A

N/A

CROATIA

1024

0.3%

N/A

N/A

GREECE

944

0.3%

N/A

N/A N/A

SLOVAKIA

906

0.3%

N/A

KOSOVO

904

0.3%

N/A

N/A

ROMANIA

820

0.2%

N/A

N/A

663

0.2%

N/A

N/A

BULGARIA TOTAL

340857

-4.0%

Fig 1: EU winter 2010/11 Sell-In (industry to retailers), Boards sales estimations per country.

09/10 EUROPEAN SNOWBOARD BRAND POSITIONS

1 Burton 2 Nitro 3 K2 / RIDE 4 salomon 5 head / lib tech 6 Rome 7 Volkl 8 rossignol 9 nidecker 10+ Forum Flow Atomic Elan Wed’ze yes

Fig 2: EU ranking estimation, snowboards, winter 2009/10.

market analysis Fig 3: Distribution segmentation in % over last three seasons.

35%

33%

30% 25%

26%

2008 / 2009 2009 / 2010 2010 / 2011

33% 32%

31% 26% 25%

27%

27%

20% 16%

15%

12%

10%

13%

5% 0%

0%

Pro Shops

Independant

Chains

Big Boxes

0%

0%

Flagship

Fig 4. Male Snowboard price segmentation, 2010/11 season

total board sales, the segment leader is still freeride/freestyle, but only just.

For the first time, trends in the women's market are coming into line with the men's. The niche for children under 14 remains stable at 7% - stable but still the barren zone of our sector. Manufacturers and retailers must unite to come up with solutions aimed at motivating kids to come back to our sport.

The heavy ‘mediatisation’ of snowboarding events (TTR, Dew Tour, X Games and Olympic Games) should help, even though the message behind so many events is vague, not helping an icon to emerge, the star of years to come, the one who can influence the choice of the kids.

<€199

Conclusion:

The sensitivity of our sport to the weather is undeniable but the passion that riders show continues to provide brands and retailers with considerable pre-season sales, whatever the depth of snow to fall during the winter.

That's how it is in boardsports. The tenuous winter had a significant impact on sales but far less than what skiing endured and whether freeskiing is included or not, passion is less brimming. Of course, we shouldn't ignore natural demographics and the obvious fact that our populations in Europe are ageing. Since 2010, over 50% of the European population has reached or are over 40 years old. That means that our sport has to adapt and innovate. The splitboard is an alternative that should limit the loss of the over forties. But that leaves the kids and no one really knows how to counteract the decline.

The fact that only 7% of riders are under 14 is not doing much to strengthen our tough core or offer vitality to our lovely sport. The solution without doubt lies in the media and marketing. We need a charismatic hero, not a Shaun White who after collecting all his Olympic medals is invisible to the wider European public, but a real leader for the sport, a hero capable of transmitting a message and influencing a whole generation into practising our sport. A Kelly Slater, Tony Hawk or Robby Naish, that's the kind of person we need because we all know very well that boardsports contribute to the emergence of a generation of riders who are rebellious and receptive to the messages of a hero.

Snowboarding is full of wonder and there are a whole heap of competition circuits, each one more lovely than the next but none manage to produce THE hero whose name alone is enough to captivate children from around the world, to make them stick their poster on their bedroom wall and adopt the lifestyle. A tough responsibility for the chosen one but, accompanied by their brands and supported by the core media, not impossible. The World Skiing Federation (FIS) that (provisionally) shelters snowboarding has the role of promoting the sport but doesn't know how to reach this goal. Their disarray is substantiated by desperate acts: slopestyle is going Olympic without the approval of the sport's key players, the World Snowboard Day is shamelessly copied... dear manufacturers, when are you going to mobilise properly to get your own, one-and-only world snowboard federation recognised as valid for our sport?

28.

www.boardsportsource.com

€200-€299 €300-€399 €400-€499 >€500

Fig 5. Female Snowboard price segmentation, 2010/11 season

Fig 6: Participation (sales) 2010-2011

WOMEN

KIDS

MEN

market analysis

MOVIN & S HAKIN S KA T E HARDGOOD S To look at it from the outside, skateboards appear to have come to a point of non-progression: board, trucks, wheels. However, within this standard format hardgoods have evolved immensely, and continue to do so. If you think differently, read on. Report by Luke van Unen.

Skateboarding is fundamentally equipment-dependent, ensuring the hardgoods component can never be replaced by any alternative; you’d session that bank or 7-set in tennis shoes and a tuxedo if you had to, but doing so with a scooter or bike ain’t skateboarding! And given the fiercely authentic nature that underpins the very act of skateboarding, evident through personal dedication to consistency and style in every skater, the hardgoods category can never be taken away from the core industry as we’ve witnessed with other categories. And a-f*kn-men to that!

The State of Skate

Like a rollercoaster, the health of the skate industry across Europe is in constant flux, and that varying between countries. However in general, hardgoods continues the stronger skate category. Over the past five years in the UK, for example, skate hardgoods sales have been flat; “But this year we have a 20% increase over last year,” confirms Chris Allen of Shiner Distribution (Blitz, Deluxe, NHS, DNA, Skate One, Street Corner, Birdhouse). Urban Supplies of Germany (Almost, Baker, Blind, Flip, Girl…), the other major European skate market, also confirms that hardgoods are doing well this year; “Decks, trucks, wheels and major accessories are up.

Only completes are down compared to 2010.”

At the retail level, hardgoods are still a strong breadwinner. Xdouble in Innsbruck confirms that of all boardsports and associated products sold, skate hardgoods contribute a healthy 15%. Attila Santos of Garage Store over in Budapest brings it home with an impressive 30%. That’s definitely a reassuring percentage of active skate customers!

Driving Hardgoods

So what’s moving out the door and keeping this category well fed?

Syndrome Distribution (BLVD, Silver, FKD, Traffic) identifies the rise of three areas: completes, retro and cruisers, although they say that quality products and teams still drive hardgoods sales more than anything else.

Tum Yeto (Foundation, Pig, Toy Machine, Rukus) feels the same way about their team as a contributing sales driver. And what would skating be without the pro scene?!

Completes have been a hot item for some time now, with almost every serious company getting a slice. Mob Skateboards say that their demand for completes has risen enormously in recent times. “We used to assemble our completes at our warehouse, but with the demand being as high as it is right now, we get them from the woodshop completely assembled.”

The retro board has seen some serious play in recent years also, and not just for the collector’s wall. All of us have at least a second setup these days, if not just for a grocery run, then for carving the park or that hungover fun session. Shiner Distribution (UK) confirms a 50% increase in retro and longboards in 2010 (make sure you check out the longboard feature on p.21 in this issue of SOURCE).

Santa Cruz also notes the importance of their old school shapes, and some updated, functional pool shapes that their riders dial in; ”Our crazier shapes, such as Screaming Foot, Swordboard and our new Simpsons Homer Head are also head turners.” They have even developed a separate line from this; “Our new offering from Salba, "Salba Cruz", is all designed by the man himself, focusing on the salty dig pool skaters who are still getting out there.”

But what has really strengthened are the cruisers – whether as a second board for the core skater, stepping back on as a re-boarder, or getting some as a new entrant. “Cruiser and old school shapes have definitely been on everyone's radar lately,” confirms Deluxe Distribution. “The popsicle shape still makes up a majority of the lines for Real, Krooked & Antihero, but with all the various Krooked Zip Zinger shapes, Old Skool Shapes, Antihero Barney Square nose/tail shapes and Real's 3 Different Ace's shapes we've got tons of unconventional options out there for everyone.”

Element say “There is definitely a trend towards smaller cruiser boards and our Travel Well program sees significant growth, but the majority of our sales is in regular logo boards and pro models.”

Absolute Distributors, the guys behind Z-Flex and Penny cruiser-style skateboards that we’ve all loved, explain this current level of interest from

www.boardsportsource.com

31

market analysis

the consumers perspective: “The riders of cruiser boards may not have felt comfortable on a regular skateboard or maybe tried and had very little success at regular skating. They start riding a cruiser and they are enjoying the skating lifestyle…”

Size Matters

Although completes are most often sold with slimmer boards – Trap Skateboards, for example, build their completes on either 7.5” or 7.625” – when it comes to matters of size, bigger is evidently better. Where the 7.5” was once the stick of choice for the flip-conscious, the 8“ is now standard.

Just five years ago it was only the pros that were swiping the wider wood from the warehouse. Now, that same width is selling off the shelves.

Shit Skateboards produces only to the core popsicle shape, and confirms that they sell more boards 8” and above – like 8.125” and 8.25” – which is not an uncommon scenario, it seems. Titus, the German retail powerhouse, even says they sell up to 8.5” boards. Damn! You’d be hard pressed to find handle bars that wide in the modern street bike scene…

And trucks are widening to match. Deluxe confirms this: “The new Thunder Hi 147II (for boards 7.8-8.1") have been really popular along with our 149 (8.1"+). Venture is also all set to release a brand new highly anticipated 5.8 wide truck for boards 8.1"+.”

In all this shape shifting and widening, wheels seem to remain our constant.

While of course the retro and cruiser setups require something larger and softer to really get the most out of the ride, the core skateboard is still seeing the ever-popular 52mm as the top seller – confirmed by specialty brands such as Kontrol Wheels, and broad range brands like Element.

Tech-Knowledge. Gee!

One of the most exciting areas of skate hardgoods right now is the tech, especially with the staple: maple. There seems little chance that wood will be replaced any time soon, but building upon this through creativity and ingenuity offers endless opportunity for potential improvement. Just look at the strong acceptance of Element’s Fiberlight, Helium, and Featherlight technologies.

Cliché has recently come up with a few 7-ply improvements. The first is their Carbonlight technology, which replaces the middle ply with a layer of carbon fibre, further reinforced with a 30-day guarantee. To simplify Joey Brazinski explains in the promo video that “It’s like an Oreo cookie full of carbon; a carbon cookie.”

The second, and extremely innovative approach by Cliché is their brilliantly branded Keystone technology, taking its inspirations from the ancient stonemason technique of the keystone within a stone arch or bridge.

“The keystone is designed to support almost all of the weight. The same principal is applied to the Cliché Keystone. The Keystone construction does not use the entire top sheet, but applies its unique shape to strengthen the board in the key areas that would be prone to breakage without sacrificing any weight or performance.”

Another great approach is the P2 technology from NHS Distribution (Flip, Creature, Santa Cruz, Independent...), and is receiving a lot of positive attention on the web. Within the top sheet they embed a layer of (nonbulletproof!) Kevlar – so all contact points of the board remain original maple, ensuring authentic pop and feel – with the central area of the board reinforced to withstand high-impact stress.

Many of the more serious players are coming up with similar performance technologies in there own flavour, such as Real’s R1 Construction and the Fiberprime composite decks from Toy Machine and Foundation. However, not everyone is backing future tech. Syndrome Distribution feels that nothing beats the seven plies of rock hard maple; “New technology draws attention, but doesn't have long-lasting success unless it's legit. Let's face it: our industry learned how to make proper decks, trucks and wheels many years ago. Any advances in those over the past 10-15 years have had little success. If it's not broke... don't fix it.”

Just five years ago it was only the pros that were swiping the wider wood from the warehouse. Now, that same width is selling off the shelves.

One emerging innovation, which aims to contribute to the performance of the board in a different way, comes from PerformanceSk8. “The fact of the matter is that no matter how good you build a deck the tail and tip is still going to wear out.” Through their Tip Technology the life of the wooden board is extended with replaceable board tips; what they term Pay for Pop. “Kids don't get to buy new decks all the time... but they can afford new tips.” As uncomfortable as something this different may initially feel, only time can tell.

Skate & Create

What it really comes down to is confidence that everything and anything we do to progress skate hardgoods is valid and commendable, for even if we feel it in our guts that basic maple and eurethane are the only true options, old timers likely thought that about plastic boards with clay wheels.

Innovation is where it’s at for advancement in any area of interest, which doesn’t necessary have to be based on technology. An impressive, yet very basic, innovation was highlighted by Italy’s Blast! Distribution, specifically in terms of progressing the category as a whole, this being Cliché’s pregripped boards. For Blast! this has been a vital sales link between those that have bought a complete but won’t /cannot grip their own first branded board. Obvious, but brilliant; such innovation can really go a long way in strengthening overall skate sales for all.

Although so many like to say that it ain’t so, there’s a lot happening in the skate hardgoods category, positive and negative sales comparisons aside. Carbon fibre, Kevlar, TipTech and Keystones... it’s all exciting! And as the wise Captain Cracker says, we’ve still got the hover board to look forward to.

www.boardsportsource.com

33

“We start from the top, from the product, the participant, the team... that way the product is legitimate, staying close to the ground and the end user.”

bigwig interview

A n d r é P i e r r e Bonamy D A K I N E With their 30-year history in boardsports, DaKine are one of the industry’s true trailblazers.

Focussing on function above fashion, their product line now spans seven sports. André Pierre Bonamy, General Manager of DaKine Europe, talks to SOURCE’s Iker Aguirre on distribution, diversification and the future of action sports.

Please tell us about the history of DaKine.

DaKine was founded in Maui in 1979 by Rob Kaplan; making leashes for surfers. Bolstered by his success in the 80s - the golden age of windsurfing - windsurfers asked him to make footstraps. In 1986, he realised that to develop his business he had to go to Outriver close to the Columbia River, the best spot for windsurfing and then for kitesurfing.

The proximity of this spot to the mountains attracted the demand of snowboarders seeking technical accessories and luggage. Billabong took over DaKine in September 2008 and opened a European branch in Hossegor in September 2009.

34.

www.boardsportsource.com

Who are the key players in Europe?

It’s a small team because we use Billabong's back office and logistics.

Distributors in the main countries where we were present (France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Great Britain and Belgium) have become agents. DaKine is quite unique because we cover seven sports with a very wide range of products. It is easier for a distributor to choose one or two sports and ignore the rest. Our first task was to have a consistent image of a technical action sports brand that is targeted at the sports themselves. Emmanuel Debruer is Marketing Brand Manager in Europe. Alex Frout looks after product, with 50% of the DaKine turnover being made in Europe, the US product managers are eager to get feedback on the market. Alex and Manu

take care of this by bringing all the key players back together to give feedback on the harnesses, luggage, leashes, etc.

What has integrating the brand into the Billabong group brought you?

The strength of the group. I was able to establish the subsidiary without having to get caught up in the logistics side, which lightened the load, allowing us to concentrate on sales, marketing and product. We also have commercial synergy because we sometimes have combined sales power in certain areas. On another note, Billabong’s books are some of the healthiest on the market, made up of top-level brands, which also helps us on a marketing level through synergy.

As you mainly sell technical products to riders, you have a very objective overview of many different sports. In your opinion, how are boardsports bearing up?

The number of surf participants is stable if not on the rise. If the surf industry is fragile then it’s because the recent trend for surf fashion/ lifestyle has waned. For all things technical - boards, leashes, neoprene etc. - the sport is bearing up well. In skateboarding, we’re seeing a comeback, especially in urban areas. It's a bit different for snowboarding. We’re seeing that skiing is really coming back, particularly amongst kids. We are partners with the Freeride World Tour and 95% of the youngsters under 17 are skiers. Snowboarding is doing all right but skiing is definitely making headway with the kids.

This is linked to the equipment development.

Each season this trend is confirmed; whether in products sold or at events. It's impressive to see how skiing has replaced snowboarding.

Snowboarding is not dead but we are witnessing a real revolution.

What are your views on windsurfing, kitesurfing and mountain biking – do you consider them markets of the future that retailers should be diversifying in?

We are very attentive to kitesurfing because the number of windsurfers is in decline. We are also investing in mountainbiking and we’re making very strong progress there in the downhill and freeride disciplines. Resorts need to attract a younger clientele in summer and are developing their bike parks with great downhill and freeride runs, this phenomenon is apparent in France, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. This is a big part of the diversification of the brand, as our presence at the Euro Bike trade show demonstrates. We have highly technical products with protection and we are now thinking about launching a range of protection that is for snowboarding as well as for biking.

What are the most dynamic markets for you at the moment? Where do you see your strongest potential for development?

Our main country in terms of turnover is Germany but our best ratio of turnover per inhabitant is Switzerland where we are present with the complete range of our products. France and Spain that are rising in strength and we have always been strong in the UK because it is a country of windsurfing and is one of our premier kitesurfing markets.

In accessories, restocking represents a large part of the profitability of a shop. What is your restock policy? What do you do to maximise this potential?

In general distributors take few risks on stock. We have big pre-seasons but the clients know they can get restocks. We also have special tools like the B2B platforms for ordering restocks 24hrs especially for shops that during the season can only place orders at night. That also allows us to accompany shops in their restock requirements with a forecasting policy, lightening the load on their pre-season budgets. We concentrate on restocks of technical products. With regards to Back to School products, we work in one-shot.

On the surf, kitesurf and windsurf markets, we try to have permanent stock. We have lots of carry-over in these categories so the risks are more controlled. It is difficult because there are versatile markets but when it comes to the technical products, we manage to get reliable forecasts.

How do you juggle the pressure on your stocks and the need to maintain availability since the start of the crisis situation in 2008?

This is also the strength of the group. A small distributor struggles to manage the financial capacity of stock as much as a group like Billabong, which finds it easier to manage and anticipate stocks thanks to its financial standing.

This is the biggest advantage over distributors.

We don't work under constant time pressure but the clients need to know that we will accompany them on the most sought after items. Our client's pre-season commitments are solid and we share the risk of restocking with them. Given the number of items that we have, we can't have permanent stock of everything so we make choices with the help of our clients.

What is your stance on online sales? Can you picture the brand's presence online?

This is the big question of our times. We are already online. It was the same question a few years ago when brands opened up proper shops.

Today we do not sell directly; even DaKine online is managed by a client. I think that all brands will end up selling online, even if it's just to sell peripheral products that are rarely offered

by their distributors. We have some really specialised items that the consumer may not find.

Selling online could provide the consumer with an answer for acquiring these products. Online sales could also allow these products to prove their commercial potential and incite retailers to stock them.

Where do you see the greatest potential?

In Europe we have huge opportunity these days in France, Spain, Italy and Russia. I would say that we have strong potential across all of Europe, especially in establishing a balance between all the activities that we represent. We also have good potential in mountain biking because it is new for us and is a sport that's present in all our markets. Our potential is also strong in the UK, Germany and the Scandinavian countries.

It is often difficult to convince a retailer of the interest in an accessories brand. What do you do to convince them?

At DaKine, it’s the product that convinces the customer above all else. This is why our main clients are core shops. We sell technical products so we don't experience fashion effects or sales peaks. What convinces the retailer is the service that we can provide and the sales techniques of how they will sell the product. We start from the top, from the product, the participant, the team... that way the product is legitimate, staying close to the ground and the end user.

Can anybody sell technical products?

No - passion is everything. Only passionate people can succeed in this. With passion comes patience. In big distribution, people often lack patience and there are no assisted sales. People go into specialist shops because they know they will find real riders who know how to talk about their products. After the choice has been made about the brand, the consumer decides, so our job is to ensure our presence is maintained.

As a brand, how will you endure the taxation of the Economic Modernisation Act in France?

It will be extremely difficult. Core shops do not have payment terms that are that long so it's the big accounts that will be penalised. As far as we are concerned, we don't have a choice, we have to apply the law. Some may consider ways around it but I think that this will be extremely complicated and that's not for us - we have to apply the law. It's from the retailer's point of view that it becomes complicated and there may well be some damage. Those who have the financial standing will be less bothered but the small retailers are at risk of being affected. The law was made to set business development in the right direction but I wonder whether it will have the opposite effect at the end of the day.

www.boardsportsource.com

35

retailer help

WAYS TO BOOST YOUR ONLINE MARKET PLACE SALES THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT ONLINE MARKETPLACE LISTINGS & PRICING Getting the best from a marketplace relies on the ability to tune your listings to the correct audience, which sometimes isn’t worth the effort if you have to do it manually. For example, you might want your item name to be different on eBay than on Amazon for the best search result click-throughs. Alternatively, you may want to tweak prices to beat the nearest competition – but there’s no point undercutting your Amazon rival by 10p and underselling yourself on eBay by £2.

Never undercut your channel prices on your own website. Marketplace selling is often a way to market your own ecommerce store; so your postsale customer communications should aim to get customers to buy direct.

Finding out they could have bought the same item cheaper direct from you isn’t a great way to build trust.

Many auctions fail because listings are overpriced, not as desirable as other listings, or because they’re not being sold at the right time to the right buyers.

Applications such as terapeak.com provide you with valuable information about product pricing and buying patterns to help you sell via these channels more effectively.

MANAGE ITEM LISTINGS EFFECTIVELY

management solution and let it do the work for you.

These systems typically let you define templates, or patterns for each channel. These can then be used to map the original data into a format required to list on the relevant channel. You can even take this to the extreme of wrapping item descriptions in a template that represents a complete e-commerce store. This can improve up-sell and cross-sell across your other ranges, keeping the user within your product set. A good example of this can be found on the Gardening Warehouse eBay store at stores.ebay. co.uk/Gardening-Warehouse.

There are lots of great tools available to help with this, here are some examples: Auctiva, eBay Turbo Lister, InkFrog, AuctionLinc and ChannelGrabber.

AUTOMATE ORDER PROCESSING TO KEEP ON TOP OF INVENTORY So now that you’ve listed all this stuff, you’re seeing plenty of sales come in. Whoopee! This is where the challenge really starts. If you’re selling items where you’re tracking stock levels, you need a way of identifying items sold against lines in your stock system – you need a unique product identifier (often the SKU – Stock Keeping Unit).

Every marketplace revolves around customers giving merchant feedback.

Amazon actually makes good customer service a prerequisite for keeping your account open. Keeping a close eye on your stock levels across the marketplaces will help you deliver excellence.

Say you’ve just launched a new range of 250 different iPhone accessories.

The competition is tough, but you know the market and you’re armed with enough information to get a decent slice of the cake. You want to list on Amazon, eBay, your own online shop and retail outlet. Prices will be a little different across each channel, but the product descriptions will generally be the same. What’s the best way to start driving sales?

A surprising number of multi-channel systems don’t have an easy way to do this, even if you’ve automated your listings via a system such as Auctiva (auctiva.com). Many merchants resort to manually keying in the sales to get the right products. This is often the first time that either the merchant or the customer has visibility of stock levels. You can do better than that.

One option is to manage a myriad of complex spreadsheets and macros, working from perhaps the original supplier data set. This can take hours and you could potentially make some expensive mistakes. The other method is to load everything into a powerful multi-channel retail

Try to work with a system that handles both the listing AND the order processing. This will allow you to make use of all the automated services (APIs) that the marketplaces offer. Orders will automatically appear in your back office processing software and stock can automatically be allocated

www.boardsportsource.com

37

Every marketplace revolves around customers giving merchant feedback. Amazon actually makes good customer service a prerequisite for keeping your account open. quickly and correctly. If you’ve got limited stock (often the case with eBay and Amazon items, which are commonly end-of-line or clearance), you need to be on it like a hawk.

All the major platforms allow you to amend the “qty available” as time progresses. Use this religiously to ensure that you maintain tip-top customer service. At the very least, you could upload daily inventory files to make sure you don’t over-sell.

Another important part of processing sales orders is shipping. Delivering orders to customers quickly at low cost is vital for keeping buyers happy and making your business profitable. Rather than using the same courier for all your orders, there are tools available that will find the cheapest/fastest shipping services for each of your orders. (metapack.com and parcel2go. com are examples of systems that give you instant access to leading global couriers, e.g. DHL, FedEx and Parcel Force, so you can quickly find the fastest/cheapest way to fulfil orders.)

WATCH THE FINANCES, KEEP AN EYE ON MARGINS & FOCUS YOUR EFFORTS ON PROFIT Since it’s easy to list hundreds or thousands of items automatically on multiple platforms, it’s also easy for the cost to run away with itself. Many merchants have so much of their time taken up by listing and order processing that the accounting gets overlooked, or delegated to the accountant who doesn’t really know how marketplace listings work.

Along with automated services for listing and collecting orders, you should be able to download (or collect over API) all the financial information you need to tally up sales with costs. Ideally your multi-channel ecommerce platform will handle this. Some marketplaces pass you the full sale value and charge a fee later, some take a commission from each sale, whilst some charge variable fees depending on whether the item sells or not. It can get pretty complex to handle this manually!

Don’t forget that your own e-commerce store is also part of the multi-channel landscape. Once you’ve done the detailed financial analysis into listing fees, customer communication time, shipping cost, item inventory cost and cost of returns, it may be that your own store is significantly more profitable for some items.

Perhaps consider removing these items from some marketplaces and focusing your efforts on direct marketing to your own site for the high margin products. You can use methods such as Shopping.com, ad words (accounts. google.com) and of course, good old traditional Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

GoogleShopping (also known as Google Merchant Centre or GoogleBase) is the place to upload your product data to Google and make it available to Google Product Search. Follow this guide to export your products from Brightpearl and import them into Google Merchant Centre.

As part of your SEO, you can use Google Analytics to understand more details about your visitors, e.g. how did they find you, how long did they spend on your site.

If all that sounds a bit intimidating, it needn’t be. Once you’ve got a solid back-end system in place to take care of the front line, you should be looking at ways to generate the business intelligence that will propel your business above the competition. Think smart – look at profitability – and don’t get distracted by thousands of pounds of zero margin sales!

38.

www.boardsportsource.com

ADD SPECIAL INFORMATION AROUND SPECIAL DATES Multiple times each year, merchants are caught up in present buying frenzies. Christmas and Valentines Day are the best examples. Customers are desperate to receive goods on time and will pay a premium if you can reassure them that you: a) Have the item in stock. b) Can guarantee delivery on time.

Make sure you put special effort into your item descriptions and surrounding messaging to give the customer confidence in your ability as a merchant.

GO FOR A SECOND STRIKE – REPEAT CUSTOM IS KING One of the good things about sending items direct from your own warehouse to the customer is the way that you can tune the physical package. You can include up to date promotional information, use branded packaging materials, include vouchers or even free gifts to make sure that your customer is blown away with delight when the goods arrive.

Some of the better drop-ship fulfilment services will also do this, but the costs are higher and you have less control. If you do use fulfilment, consider A-B testing a certain product range – perhaps ship 50% yourself and 50% through the fulfilment house. You may be pleasantly surprised at the number of repeat customers you get, particularly if your products are specialist and rely on the customer trusting your industry experience. Perhaps consider writing information guides and tasters of further content you provide on your website, or even including relevant ones into the package.

Email is an essential part of communicating with your customers. Mail Chimp is an example of email marketing software that has a free price plan and allows you to send email campaigns to up-sell your customer base. There are lots of email marketing providers, but not all will successfully deliver your emails. Other good examples are verticalresponse.com and constantcontact. com.

One thing that is essential to do right from the very first purchase is to make it clear that you may wish to send further marketing offers and communications, but let the user opt out if they wish. You can get into a lot of trouble for unsolicited emails.

HELP YOUR SHOPPERS IN REAL-TIME You have just seconds to catch some one’s attention whilst they browse the web. Even with the most dedicated content management team, you may just miss the vital answer to one of their questions. This is where live chat really comes into its own. You can install live chat widgets (Olark is a great one – olark.com) onto your own ecommerce store (and some marketplaces) using just a bit of Javascript code. Not only does it help give you insight into what people want, it can often be used to get the customer over the line to a purchase, if you have qualified sales people running the chat screens inhouse.

This article was written in association with Brightpearl business management software www.brightpearl.com/boardsports.

photo: Rip Curl

market insight

body board

a market there for the taking Since 2008, the boardsports market has been in a phase of restructuring. The standardised supply, so lucrative in the past, has become a problem for retailers who are now trying to set themselves apart. One answer to the problem is to align yourself with new niches, like bodyboarding. What you don’t believe in it?

Watch out for the signs that maybe you should… By Iker Aguirre.

Born in 1971, brainchild of American inventor Tom Morey who was looking for a safe, fun way for his wife to enjoy the waves, bodyboarding caused a tidal wave that flooded beaches across the world in the 80s. Benefitting from the rise of surfing and its lifestyle, bodyboarding literally exploded. At the end of the 80s the company Hoff, the first European and international importer, posted record rates of sale. For just the Mach 7 and Mach 4 models, real icons of the era, imports were counted per container, per model and per week! And that was just one slice of the cake!

the US. Its decline, for reasons similar to that of bodyboarding, resulted in skaters retaking control of their sport, bringing it back to a new golden age.

Adding to the visceral hatred lurking in the water between surfers and bodyboarders, that has now calmed down like the forces that separated skiers and snowboarders, came structural difficulties inherent to a badly organised, industry that was too immature to understand the problems that surfing dealt with so well to ensure its lasting appeal.

A niche market to be had

So after its golden age, bodyboarding suffered a quick demise at the end of the 90s. And it was a tremendous, destabilising decline, equivalent only to that of skateboarding around the same period. After having proven its wider-public potential, bodyboarding became a niche market, unstructured and polluted by big industrial groups whose only answer to the problem of longevity was through a presence in supermarket aisles. That was an almost terminal juncture, the first step to crossing a vast desert.

We've seen this before

In our industry we have lived through enough to understand the cyclical evolution of our markets. According to theories, cyclic phases last three, seven of fifteen years or more. No market escapes the rule, except bodyboarding, an anomaly in its genre, in the trough of the wave for almost 15 years.

Moreover, we saw an almost identical decline in skateboarding at the end of the 80s, which seemed like the end of a whole industry in Europe, if not in

The most optimistic people can compare bodyboarding to skateboarding and will target a coup of this market sooner or later. The law of cycles demands it. The more pessimistic will compare it more to inline skating for the similar course it followed, although more just for its inability to keep its head out of the water.

Nothing too encouraging so far you might say? Now let's look more closely at the market. Imanol Arrizabalaga, founder and CEO of Napco Global, owner of the leading brands Pride and NMD is categorical, "I don't think the bodyboarding market is doing too badly." His company's success manages to contradict everything that you have just read... or else just proves that he has understood how the bodyboard market was a niche up for grabs!

Factors serving as evidence:

• The consumers are loyal. They live for bodyboarding with passion common to the boardsports world but, in the face of being a rejected and forgotten sport, they are bound together by reinforced differentiation. The first pillar of adolescence is here.

• The new style of bodyboarding is closer to gladiator showmanship than the dull, repetitive choreography that previously forged its image. It's an aerial sport and quickly separates the men from the wimps, ideal for adolescents to prove themselves.

• The second pillar of adolescence: Self-realisation. We can find this in a sport that, from a beach activity, becomes a challenge where extreme situations are commonplace. Need for realisation? Check.

• The third: the need for belonging. This translates into a very active community that has adapted to a lack of means and that has made the Internet its main domain of exchange and expression.

photo: RVCA

for individual brand opinions: www.boardsportsource.com

41

market insight

photo: Rip Curl

• Find a product that meets the three fundamental needs of adolescents and you have the primary elements of philosophical alchemy.

• Of all the aquatic alternatives found in boardsports, bodyboarding is the one that offers the easiest access and the least risk of colliding with your equipment. These are key arguments to convince worried parents.

• Other arguments for pragmatic parents: bodyboarding is not expensive (a complete beginner's set up can be obtained from just €200), does not take up a lot of space at home and fits in the boot of a car.

• Last but not least, there are many gaping errors and supply blunders in the market. Substitute products do exist but not from alternative brands that are legitimate to the sport. What's more, because of a lack of means, the market has learned to survive by frequently turning to the distribution system. €1 marketing is big in the bodyboarding market and with a little bit of money, you can guarantee a European, if not worldwide buzz. Calling all project leaders!

The signs of the market

None of these arguments are new however. They all pertain to bodyboarding and have existed since its initial popularity boom. As a result, none of them are enough to justify this article. Rather, it is the signs from a market that has just overcome its inherent structural faults that allow us to anticipate a return in the coming years.

Firstly, as you have seen in the Market Intelligence sections of previous Source issues, shops that have a bodyboard range never hesitate to express the vitality of the section. Imanol Arrizabalaga is quite uncompromising on the subject: "It remains to be seen that the market is stagnating, this year we have recorded 42% growth." Benoit Brecq from Hoff confirms, "we have recorded clear growth in top-of-the-range bodyboard sales in recent years." Sell-out? Check.

"It remains to be seen that the market is stagnating, this year we have recorded 42% growth" Imanol Arrizabalaga, founder & CEO,

The 80s showed the potential appeal of bodyboarding and the residual fascination with which a chain like Decathlon dived into the segment is proof that this potential still exists. One (unconfirmed) source estimates the chain sells 600,000 bodyboards a year in Europe, and Benoit Brecq asserts that Decathalon has become an entry point for the sport. Another interesting point that can be seen as anecdotal by some, is significant for others: did you know that Amaury Lavernhe, Bodyboarding World Champion was found to be the third best known surfer in France after Jeremy Flores and Kelly Slater in the last Arcane European market study commissioned

by EuroSIMA? Potential? Check.

The lack of federated movements from the main players of the industry has been one of the main difficulties bodyboarding has faced. Instead of moving forward together following the direction of the sport while respecting pure and perfect competition, as is the case of EuroSIMA who set the example for European surfing, the key players in bodyboarding were battling in the trenches and from in there it is impossible to differentiate between individual gain and that of the sport itself. The world changes, so does the market's maturity and the Bodyboard Alliance, an association of the key players of the bodyboard world has just seen the light of day. It's goal: structure, develop and legitimise the sport. Federation? Check.

The International Bodyboarding Association (IBA) has in recent years been through a deep restructuring phase and the result has been privatisation and a series of investments that places bodyboarding competitions on a level with all other boardsports, and without lacking funds. The result is the most spectacular waves in the world, coverage worthy of the best ASP or TTR competitions, worldwide broadcasting and a simple, fair ranking system. Terry McKenna, IBA Tour Manager, sums up the formula like this: "Our vision is to share the amazing sport of bodyboarding with as much of the world as possible, in the waves that the sport thrives in. Longer waiting periods at heaving slabs like Fronton, Pipeline, the Box and Chile’s el gringo. Shallow reef breaks and perfect peeling beach-breaks with barrels and air bowls alike, to showcase the sport at its highest level." In other words, everything is being done to ensure a spectacle worthy of restoring credibility to bodyboarding as an extreme and highly spectacular sport.

Imanol Arrizabalaga is clear: "This is an historic moment for bodyboarding.

42.

Napco Global, owner of the leading brands Pride and NMD

Finally things are being done well on all levels."

Red Bull, energy drink giant is also committed to broadcast all IBA competitions on its web TV. Bodyboarding needed a wider public broadcasting platform and Red Bull have just provided it. Broadcasting?

Check.

So what now?

This article should be taken in to account on the level it deserves. It is simply an analysis and a prophecy. Like any prediction, it's not going to happen in 48 hours, even less so within the context of the current financial, economic and buying power crisis. The opportunities are there nonetheless.

Today, only endemic technical brands remain in operation on a market that is suffering from inadequate supply structuring (marketing and product).

To this day, there are precious few solid, purely bodyboarding alternatives and it is surf/skate brands, not supporting the sport but closest in their DNA, who are picking up peripheral sales (clothes, shoes, eyewear, etc).

The greatest difficulty for the market will be this: managing to integrate a new and isolated sporting dynamic into a mature boardsports industry and being able to establish credibility for a separate industry and lifestyle given that the similarities with surfing are great for an uninitiated public.

Is this market cohabitation plausible or has surfing become too big for this kind of substitute product? That is where the paths of our expectations become blurred.

www.boardsportsource.com : for individual brand opinions

pictoral

Adidas

Adidas

Adidas

C1RCA

C1RCA

C1RCA

CMYK

CMYK

CMYK

DC

DC

DC

Dekline

Dekline

Dekline

DVS

DVS

DVS

Element

Element

Element

Emerica

Emerica

Emerica

Etnies

Etnies

Fallen

Fallen

Fallen

www.boardsportsource.com

45

pictoral

Globe

Globe

Globe

Gravis

Gravis

Gravis

Habitat

Habitat

Habitat

iPath

iPath

iPath

Lakai

Lakai

Lakai

Nike

Nike

Rip Curl

Rip Curl

Rip Curl

Supra

Supra

Supra

SYKUM

SYKUM

SYKUM

Vans

Vans

Vans

Wesc

for more pictorals and products go to www.boardsportsource.com Wesc

46.

Wesc

www.boardsportsource.com

B E S T SELLERS

Retailers... Would you like to be featured in Best Sellers?

Email clive@boardsportsource.com

BRINGING YOU THE LATEST NEWS & VIEWS FROM THE RETAIL FRONT LINE

skate

SKATE

SURF

SURF

SNOW

SURF

Ragdoll

The Skate Shop

Massilia Surf Shop

Redwood

Freeze Pro Shop

Avalanche

What is your best selling category and why?

The best category is clothing, which is perhaps 70-80% of the shop space. Also accessories: underwear, watches and headphones. Next is hardgoods, specifically skateboard decks.

Although we are next to the water in Anglet, we don’t have any surfboards - only clothes and a lot of choice on skateboards.

What is your best selling category and why?

Hardgoods. Definitely skate hardgoods.

What is your best selling category and why?

The best selling category is clothing. This is due to our location: downtown in the city of Marseille.

What is your best selling category and why?

Clothing for sure. And in surf hardwear, it would be O’Neill wetsuits. This is currently the case, and it’s been like that for a while.

What is your best selling category and why?

Within snowboarding it’s hardware. We sell more snowboards than anything else; people purchase new snowboards more frequently than they purchase new boots or bindings. Through the summer and up until now it’s accessories, t-shirts and hoodies that are related to the brands.

What is your best selling category and why?

Hardgoods and snow outerwear. Of course, it completely depends on the season. At the moment it’s streetwear. Because of where we’re situated in the middle of Germany we don’t have any snow in the area right now, so it takes a while for the snow products to start selling.

What is your best selling single product at the moment and why?

Currently t-shirts. Our best selling product through the summer it’s probably sunglasses.

How are sales compared to this time last year?

I think it is a little bit worse, but not much. The season gone was really bad for shops like us, due to the weather. But now we have the winter jackets in stock it’s 18 degrees outside.

Anglet, France www.ragdoll-shop.com

What is your best selling single product at the moment and why?

In the summer time it was t-shirts and boardshorts.

For the winter, it will now be jeans and sweaters.

Volcom would have to be the best selling brand for us right now.

Poole, United Kingdom www.skaterownedshop.co.uk

What is your best selling single product at the moment and why?

Right now, boards: Girl, Chocolate. A lot of UK brands are doing really well. Jart has also done really well with us this year. The weather’s been great this year, which really helps. April had perfect weather, as did Easter, and the kids ask for money these days, not chocolate eggs.

How are sales compared to this time last year?

This year has been quite good. If anything, sales are slightly up on last year.

How are sales compared to this time last year?

It’s more difficult this year, with less people coming into the shop and also buying less. This year there have also been far less tourists, more French people, primarily due to the weather.

People are spending their money on different kinds of things for their kids, such as restaurants and cinema, leaving less budget for clothing.

What's your view on brick and mortar versus online?

We’ve been around so long that we have a big following of people that just come here all the time; so trying to compete against thousands of businesses online doesn’t make sense. It just ticks along very nicely as it does. But maybe in the future, who knows.

Which upcoming brand would you like to stock in the future?

For the coming season we are starting to stock some new and different clothing brands like North Face, Penfield, Timberland and Huff.

How do you decide what to buy?

The owner is pretty much up for giving any brand a go. If someone comes into the shop and says “Check this out, I’ve started a brand,” and we look at it and think it’s good, then we’ll put it in the shop and give it a go. We give everyone a chance basically. We were one of the first to do Dope Clothing, back when they were doing it out of a bedroom, as well as Addict, we were one of the first to stock that. You’ve got to give people a chance.

What can brands improve on to support independent retailers?

Payment terms. Also, it can be very difficult to exchange products that are not selling well. For example, after one month or two months when we see a product isn’t moving in the shop, we would obviously like to change them. Often this is not possible, which seems to be because of a lack of stock availability on their end.

How confident are you for the coming winter?

I think it’s going to be all right. It’s been a good year

Marseille, France www.massiliasurfshop.com

What is your best selling single product at the moment and why?

T-shirts are easily the best selling product. But depending on the season; now I hope that it will be sweatshirts and pants. However, it’s still very hot.

How are sales compared to this time last year?

Sales right now are the same as this time last year. Summer was bad; I suppose people don’t have the money to spend on clothes right now.

Hardware was good, but clothing etc. wasn’t very good. It was bad.

How do you expect business to be over the next six months?

I hope it will not be the same, but I am not sure. I think that it could be the same.

Which upcoming brand would you like to stock in the future?

We will start to carry Hoalen (original watermen apparel), Patagonia apparel and one or two new small t-shirt brands.

What's your view on brick and mortar versus online?

We have a website, but not an online shop. It is a lot of work to do, and the turnover needs to be high for it to be interesting I think. This is my first year with the website, so we will see and decide after.

What can brands improve on to support independent retailers?

I think all the companies that we work with are helpful, more or less. They all try. They need the small and independent shops like us to survive.

So we are a kind of like a partner, we try to mix together to make good business for each other.

Anything else to add?

I love SOURCE magazine. For me it’s very interesting. It’s great to have news and information from across the industry.

48.

www.boardsportsource.com

Croyde, United Kingdom www.redwoodsurfshop.co.uk

What is your best selling single product at the moment and why?

WeSC. It’s gone very well this year. People seem to be recognising it more down in the West Country than they did before. And Insight.

How are sales compared to this time last year?

We’re pretty much on par with what we were last year. We’re pretty lucky with our location - Croyde is Croyde, and people are always going to come if there are waves.

How confident are you for the coming winter?

It just depends on what happens with the surf. Last year it was flat from mid-November through ‘til Christmas, so that didn’t help matters. It just depends on the swell. Internet forecasting has changed everything; people used to just come down on a whim hoping there might be some waves, but now with forecasting, if there are no waves no one turns up. If there’s swell, they’ll come.

Which upcoming brand would you like to stock in the future?

Hurley and Nike next year. And we’re kind of excited about that.

What can brands improve on to support independent retailers?

Most of the brands we deal with are pretty good.

Obviously some of them aren’t, but that’s probably reflected in their orders and how their season’s going. If they look after you, you tend to look after them. WeSC is good to us, especially in terms of after-sales – coming around, making sure we’ve got point-of-sale, making sure things are going well, deliveries are on time. You put them in a prominent position in the shop because they look after you.

How do you decide what brands to stock in the shop?

Kinda through word of mouth. Speaking to other people and finding out what seems to be selling well. And obviously what’s looking good and what’s priced well.

Edinburgh, Scotland www.freezeproshop.com

How are sales compared to this time last year?

About the same, I’d say. Online is a little busier; the shop is a little bit quieter. But I think the shop is probably quiet because the weather has been so bad.

How confident are you for the coming winter?

The economy is obviously a concern, but then we’ve been in recession for the last few years.

For the coming winter we haven’t bought less, but we’ve certainly spent more time looking at what we’ll be buying – so really considering what we sold last year, what’s likely to carry on into this year.

What can brands improve on to support independent retailers?

Stop selling to shit shops. Like shops that start discounting in October. Say we’ve got a brand that we do 300K with a year, and that little shop starts discounting it 10% in October, to them it may not seem significant, but to us it’s 30K worth of product. It’s about brands having integrity about who they sell to, but it’s hard for them to do so as they obviously have sales targets and they want to grow as well, but ultimately it’s going to kill the brand.

What's your view on brick and mortar versus online?

We do around 65-70% of our business online now.

It’s grown by 50% in the last year.

Winterberg, Germany www.avalanche-snowboards.de

Which upcoming brand would you like to stock in the future?

We will be starting with Volcom next summer, which we are looking forward to.

What can brands improve on to support independent retailers?

They could save some good products for the small independent shops like me. When the good products start to roll, all the bigger retailers take all the stronger items – for example, there may be one good pullover from Burton, for example, we won’t be able to get that now. It would be nice for small shops if there was the opportunity to be able to buy some strong sellers during the season. But I think it’s pretty hard for the brands to offer something like that.

What's your view on brick and mortar versus online?

Sales are getting worse. There was a time when I thought of the online business as future business, but at the moment it seems like maybe only two or three huge companies do all of the online sales.

How do you decide what brands to bring into the shop?

I decide from my stomach. I’m a snowboarder, so I’m into the scene. I get curious about some brands, and others not. I then go and inform myself on the mountain. I try to spend some time in the parks with the kids to get to know what they’re going for, and then I check it out.

www.boardsportsource.com

49

brand profile

flux SOURCE TALKS TO SNOWBOARD GURUS GREGOR COMMON & ANDY REIGER ON FLUX BINDINGS – THE LATEST ADDITION TO THEIR DISTRIBUTION PORTFOLIO How and why did the company start?

Flux is going into its 20th year and has continuously been at the forefront of binding technology. Although snowboard bindings are only regarded as a piece of equipment, we feel that it plays an important role in providing the rider with a comfortable, natural connection to the board. Here at Flux Bindings, we strive to create the greatest quality snowboard bindings in the market. It's what we do.

When did you start to distribute Flux in Europe?

Last year, our friends from Flux asked me if we want to do the distribution for Germany, Austria, France and Benelux. I always said that if we distribute snowboard bindings then it had to be Flux because of the quality and fit of the product.

How is the connection to Arbor that is also in your portfolio?

Flux and Arbor are good friends from back in the days. Both companies have the same passion in providing the best possible material to ride.

Producing perfect fit, durability, and sexy products.

This summer I followed Flux’s invitation stay at their headquarters in Tokyo and be a part of the 2012/2013 sales meeting. I was really surprised how intensely they grilled me about the central European needs regarding shapes, colours and pricing etc.

Who is on your management team and what is their experience?

The development of the products is done by Yoyo Uchie, he is an industry veteran, one of the snowboard pioneers and he has a great team of young guns around him. Ray Takahashi, former Japanese pro-snowboarder and Freestyle Champion is in charge of global sales, located in Torrance, L.A., a few minutes away from

Arbor’s headquarters in Venice. Central European distribution is run by Gregor Common, snowboard pioneer and founder of Arbor Europe, and Andy Rieger, Central European marketing and team management.

What is the ethos of the company and what sets you apart from your competitors?

Flux Bindings is going back to the essence, paying homage to the roots of our sport. To produce bindings with a natural fit, great control for the board and high quality. The guys from Flux do it in a special way as I saw in Japan. The Japanese thoroughness is the base of the perfectly designed products. The extreme high quality ensures very few warranty cases, which ensures riders and retailers confidence in the product and the brand.

Ride it and you will see.

How do you support boardsports and riders?

Provide safe, durable, and comfortable products for the riders. We invite riders to development meetings to make sure that their efforts will be reflected in the evolution of the products.

What is your approach concerning ecoresponsibility?

Flux has been experimenting with all sorts of materials that are eco-friendly, to create bindings.

Using recycled materials wherever possible in catalogues, boxes etc. is standard. Every little helps. We compensate our transports for Flux as we do for Arbor and Paris via the foundation www.prima-klima-weltweit.de. We do not need to market our green approach.

Why should retailers sell your brand?

With a warranty rate of less than 0.005%, we know that our customers will come back year after year.

This is in part due to the durability of our bindings.

We’ve added tool-less features to our bindings to make adjustments on the fly, and the FTM (Flux Toe Mask) and UU gapless fit system are a few of the many innovations that we have brought to the market. We were the first to introduce Urethane material in our highbacks to allow for more flexibility while still maintaining edge-to-edge stability. For the 2011-2012 season we have shed serious weight, while maintaining the durability Flux is famous for.

What arguments should they use to sell your products to their customers?

For the beginner or advanced rider, Flux makes sure you are comfortable and safe. All our bindings are durable and ready to take on whatever you are.

Depending on what you are looking for, we have the bindings that will fit your individual needs.

We pride ourselves on making bindings that fit everyone’s specs, whether it is a flexible highback, stiffer base, or softer strap - every combination is represented! We have a broad product line that allows every rider the perfect specifications for how they ride.

How do you see the future of the brand?

We are updating and testing our bindings to ensure that they are the best they can be. Flux knows this is just the beginning of new ideas that will change the way snowboarders look at their bindings. As we see with Arbor Snowboards there’s a growing community outside that loves to ride high-end material instead of cheap stuff. So I believe the future for Flux bindings is bright.

Where can we see your products/video/etc? www.flux-bindings.com www.facebook.com/FluxBindings

FLUX Snowboard Binding. Klingenhofstr. 72, D- 90411 Nürnberg Tel: +49-911-59834987 50.

www.boardsportsource.com

brand profile

ecomoAna

Ecomoana is a new brand of premium paddleboard/SUP products, aimed at people “looking for design, style, surfing, nature and wellbeing”. Franck Bennardi, Co Founder & CEO talks to SOURCE about the company’s plans for a greener way of SUPing.

Please give an overview on how and why the company began?

Ecomoana is a leading player in the ecofriendly surfing industry, specialising in the next generation of premium stand-up paddleboards (SUPs). Ecomoana stands at the forefront of this exciting new field, innovating and developing ecoenhanced solutions used in SUP manufacturing.

After two years in the project phase of research, design, shape development and the testing of green technologies, the company is now combining design and fashion with the sports attitude.

Who is on the management team, and what are their backgrounds?

I (Franck Bennardi) am the head of the company; I have a green composite materials background.

Rudy Fenet is our art director with a huge background in the surfing apparel industry.

Gunther Doll is our marketing events director with a strong history in surfing. Our board of directors include top executives from financials, sports and chemicals industries, such as André Genton, former president of Huntsman Corporation.

What is the company ethos?

“A woman, a man, a kid, a paddleboard.” We expect everybody to try stand-up paddle boarding at least once in their lifetime. We will make it happen by renting out SUPs for a good price, wherever it is around the world. We have just launched the brand in the south of France in Cap d’Antibes and we got our first Ecomoana SUP Centre is available from September 2011.

What sets you apart from your competitors?

To help develop the necessary technology and materials, Ecomoana had to understand that no board would be a 100% green. We know that no board, right now, can be a 100% green, but we have made the most eco-friendly board possible right now. We were able to achieve this by focusing on the combination of green epoxy and Porcher Greenlite fibres, that go into the production of our SUP boards, especially into our “Yellow is Green” SUP collection (because green resins come in a yellowish colour instead of white, due to essential oil elements of the resin formula).

How do you support athletes and boardsports?

By providing them the most beautiful SUP and premium accessories (paddle, deck pads, and board bags) from our SUP collections. Among our four SUP collections are Pink Flower, Rubban, YiG and SeaWolf.

What other marketing are you running?

Online marketing and strong social networking activities.

Are your SUP customers mainly surfers looking for alternatives, or do you attract much business from customers without boardsports background?

Surfers are not our main target group. Customers without boardsports background are more suitable to the core value of the brand - especially women.

What is your company approach to CSR and sustainability?

www.ecomoana.com Tel: +33 6 72 55 12 81 52.

www.boardsportsource.com

We are a sustainable brand!

Is your manufacturing method different to common shortboards?

Yes it is. We’re in secret mode on that topic though.

Why should retailers sell your brand?

Retailers will not sell our brand, but e-retailers are welcome to join us very soon.

You are based in France, are there plans to distribute in other European countries?

Yes there are plans. The USA is also already engaged with our exclusive partner in Florida: Precision Paddleboard at Fort Lauderdale (thanks Josh!).

What do you see for the future of your company?

Making Ecomoana SUPs the ultimate premium product in the SUP Industry.

What do you see for the future of the industry?

Fashion design styles, green materials and innovative business models will be the key differentiators for successful brands.

Where can we check out your products/videos/ stuff? (web/facebook/etc) We will soon be online with a strong social network presence – quality requires time and effort to launch a premium product strategy. In 2012 we will be launching the Ecomoana premium SUP collection.

brand profile

stance

Stance is the answer to one of the big questions in life – who will take care of your feet? The brainchild of many years of thought from some of the industry’s most venerable veterans, Stance sets its stall as the premium sock brand in action sports. Interview with Ryan Kingman, VP marketing.

Please give an overview on how and why the company began?

Jeff Kearl and Rick Alden had the original vision to create a brand around socks. They were looking at successful brands in our industry and observed that a major contributing factor to a brand’s long-term success was the fact that they were first to market in a specific product category.

This prompted them to think about what product categories had not been fully developed and it was this process that led them to socks. Rick and Jeff had the vision and saw the potential of Stance as an independent business opportunity but were busy in their respective spaces and knew they needed to put together a group of industry veterans who could help realise their vision and turn it into reality.

on the other hand has more of a divide between supporters and "sock blockers". Some see Stance as a threat, assuming that we're gearing up to develop an apparel brand or that we're going to eat away at their unsung sock biz. The other side of the divide has been supportive knowing that our efforts will eventually grow the category for everyone by bringing much needed relevance to something that has been a quiet performer.

Who is on the management team, and what are their backgrounds?

Jeff Kearl occupies the role of CEO. President and COO is John Wilson, former President of Reef. VP of Creative is Aaron Hennings, who was formerly the art director of Billabong Men’s USA, VP of Marketing is Ryan Kingman, former Director of Global Marketing at Element. Rounded out with VP of Domestic Sales, Bryan Wilson, whose background is in the street and urban market, most notably his tenure at LRG, and finally Director of Sourcing and Production, Taylor Shupe, who started and ran an accessory brand called ISIS.

How do you support athletes and boardsports?

We’ve been fortunate to work with an amazing group of individuals that we call our Punks & Poets. Skateboarders, snowboarders, surfers and other creative individuals we found had an interest in partnering with us on our quest. It’s truly a great feeling when someone you and your peers revere shares the vision for what you’re doing.

We support them by affording them a creative platform to develop products and get involved in the brand on any level they see fit. From product to marketing, they have an open forum. They and the product are the focus of our brand and are in front of mind in everything we do. Many of the team are business partners with us as well.

What is the company ethos?

Original, Expressive and Uncommon.

With socks you created a completely new category in action sports. Are retailers adopting it well?

There's been a lot of support at the retail level because the shops know what the category is doing and that it's capable of doing better. The industry

What sets you apart from your competitors?

The fact that we took a product that was for the most part being ignored and put our entire focus into it. Quality is very important to us and we want to make sure that it’s backed up with strong operational systems that will help build a successful business.

What other marketing are you running?

We have a number of fun grass roots campaigns such as the Finders Keepers program - a simple, yet interesting concept that engages consumers by giving them the chance to find and win free product. We distribute single pairs of socks either at random or in conjunction with an event for the

consumers to find. The socks are theirs to keep and are tagged with information about how they can learn more about our brand and what we do as well as enter to win more product. We also have a Sock Reclamation Program wherein you trade in your old socks for a new pair of Stance.

Your old socks are bulk washed and given to those in need.

Why should retailers sell your brand?

Because we offer a great product with a unique story, backed by an incredible group of brand advocates. We’re all veterans of our industry and have the know-how to develop relationships with retailers on a global scale.

Coming from California, what are your plans for Europe? Are there any regions you are concentrating on?

We’re going to be selling into Europe starting with our Holiday line. We’ve got great distribution partners who share our vision for the brand. We’re very thankful for their support and look forward to growing our business together.

What do you see for the future of your company?

Continuous improvement in everything we do.

Will there be a wider product range, or are you sticking to the socks?

Sticking with socks, we have a long way to go with socks and have some exciting plans for the category.

Where can we check out your products/videos/ stuff? (web/facebook/etc) www.stance.com Twitter: @stancesocks Instagram: @stancesocks Facebook: www.facebook.com/stancesocks

724 S. El Camino Real, San Clemente, CA 92672 Email: kingman@stance.com 54.

www.boardsportsource.com

055

new products 01.

02.

01. DRIFT - HD POV Video Camera The HD is the latest action sports video camera to be released by Drift. 25% smaller than its predecessor - 102mm and 120g - new features include replaceable lens, 9MP stills camera, second rear cover to protect the camera when using an external mic, micro HDMI connector for HD TV playback and many other features. www.driftinnovation.com 02. KARI TRAA – Smala Pant & Roundneck In fashionable patterns and colours, the Smala is knitted with maximum elasticity and stretch, and the 100% New Zealand merino wool constantly adjusts to your body temperature to keep you in the comfort zone. www.karitraa.com

03.

03. ELEMENT Wolfeboro Collection Jacket The Fall 2011 Wolfeboro collection is centred on the classic, rugged outdoorsman vibe with colour story transitions from darker muted hues to a brighter palette. Hemlock Two Tone jacket features coated canvas all over with contrast lining, hood and a two-tone brown/khaki design. www.elementeurope.com 04. SIONYX – Beanie Beat the dreary cold days with Sionyx. Handcrafted with passion, made in Germany. These hats recall the beanie styles of the 60s and 70s, updated for a modern look for Fall 2011/2012. www.sionyx.de

04.

05.

05. TSG – Female Protective Wear TSG pays tribute to the physical features of female riders with a series of women-specific safety products. Back protectors, protector shorts and knee guards have been designed and developed in cooperation with TSG’s female pro team riders and will be available from winter 2011/2012. www.ridetsg.com 06. epicTM - Two Face Bangle The creation of stylish, high quality accessories and clothes for girls is the driving idea behind the Austrian newcomer brand epicTM. Two single butterflies form the unique brass bangle ‘Two Face’. The bangle is handmade, nickel free and available in two different sizes and several stylish colour combinations. epicTM products offer great space for stylish outifts. So be epic and go for it! www.epic-wear.com

06.

56.

07.

www.boardsportsource.com : for more exiting new products

07. NIXON – The Supertide Time your surf sessions right and you don't have to think. And who wants to think? With the rhythm of the tide displayed in high-resolution detail, the Supertide syncs you up with the motion of the ocean so you know exactly when to go.

Available Early 2012 www.nixonnow.com

market intelligence

Germany Germany is in a difficult position these days. The economy remains strong, while direct neighbours such as France and Italy are experiencing increasing difficulties. With economic strength however comes the responsibility of making difficult decisions, such as about the future of the Euro and whether Greece will remain part of the Monetary Union.

With all eyes on Germany, the pressure is rising. Tremors in international stock markets in early September pulled the German index (DAX) down by 2.3% to a new low, just above the 5,000 point line. “The German economy can no longer escape from worldwide turbulence,” said Hans-Werner Sinn, President of the Institute for Economic Research (IFO). Accordingly, economic optimism among German businesses dropped to a low of 108.7 on the IFO-Index.

Following this trend, consumer optimism also declined, to 5.2 points in September, down from 5.5 in July. However, there is a surprise: despite these rising tensions, German consumers are actually willing to spend more money, especially on higher-priced, big-ticket items. “Many Germans fear for the stability of their currency and are therefore investing their money into valuable purchases instead of saving for a rainy day,” suggests GfK financial expert Rolf Bürkl. The boardsports business is also noting the change: “Things are moving from ‘everything has to be cheap’ towards having room for quality, which as we know, also has its price,” said Jörg Ludewig, co-owner of Urban Supplies and Jefferson distribution in Wiesbaden.

Quick Recap: Skateboard Summer ’11

Asked for an overall verdict of this summer season, Ludewig said: “Let’s stay with everyone’s favourite topic, the weather! Once again, this wasn’t a real summer. We barely had one consecutive week of sun and April feels like it was a dream.” Surprisingly, Ludewig notes: “but maybe less people went on holiday, because sales were not so bad after all!” Richie Löffler of Mantis Lifestyle Store and MDCN Distribution in Hamburg agreed the weather could have been better, but that summer was otherwise marked by “demand for high-quality long boards such as Loaded, Indiana, Fullbag and Urskog.” For year-on-year comparison, Richie’s sales remained stable, “except longboards sold even better.” On that note, Jörg Ludewig mentioned: “Longboards are selling brilliantly, especially complete boards. Skateboard hardware sales were also up a few percent from 2010. Softgoods did somewhat worse, since some suppliers only shipped in September.”

At 5ive store based in Kempten in the South of Germany, Bernhard Burger reflected on last season: “This summer had a bit of everything. While girl’s collections moved slowly, we were happy about developments in the kids segment. Overall, our ‘young stars’ are rocking a dressier look, so we are able to fully compete with vertical retail outlets.”

Skate: Brands and Trends

Asked about current movers and shakers in skate retail, Daniel Kraus at 540 Store in Kaiserslautern said: “Shorts are going slowly and inline with the weather, people aren’t screaming for flip-flops. We were really successful with T-shirts, in all colours. Hats and shoes are moving in both colourful styles and classic black and white. Jeans and chinos are both selling really well and luckily, price no longer seems a determining factor.” Daniel’s hit brands include Cleptomanicx, etnies, Fox, DC, Volcom, Element, enjoi, Vans, Nike SB, Emerica, adidas, Globe, Supra, Cheap Monday, Reell, and Nudie.

Richie in Hamburg is also selling Cleptomanicx, TRAP Skateboards, Nike SB, and Vans, while new European brands Servant Footwear and Polar Skateboards “are going through the roof!” In Richie’s opinion, “skaters are

58.

www.boardsportsource.com

By Dirk Vogel

getting into brands and image again, not only blank decks and merchandise companies, but companies with real skateboarding background.”

Hardware brands remain unchanged at Urban Supplies and Jefferson, with Girl, Plan B, Element, Enjoi, Almost, Flip, Baker, and Zero strong in decks and Indy and Thunder for trucks. Jörg Ludewig also points out a stable performance by Fourstar in softgoods, while Indy has gained strength and the best newcomer is Sweet.

Surf: It’s a fashion thing?

Surf remains a mixed bag in Germany. Hot brands include the usual suspects, Rip Curl, Billabong, Volcom and Quiksilver. That said, surf aficionados appear divided into two camps: fashion-minded folk who “reach” for the lifestyle and want to associate with surfing through softgood brands and actual practitioners. For the latter, 58 shop in the town of Ulm has been nurturing the scene with a full selection of over 80 boards, wetsuits, booties, board bags and more, together with the annual 58 Surf Camps in Portugal. With Germany’s inherent scarcity of consistent waves, stand up paddle boarding (SUP) has often been heralded as a new hope for attracting core enthusiasts. As one of the first European brands, Indiana (see Longboard Trend Report in this issue) from Wald, Switzerland are on fire, spreading SUP under the motto, ‘From the Street to the Ocean.’ Next to a full arsenal of boards and paddles, Indiana SUP is also fanning the flames with SUP events and clinics for beginners. www.indiana-sup.ch Other than that, the surf lifestyle remains in the fashion and street wear arena, right next to Hollister gear brought back by those travelling to the US by the bagful! Discerning shoppers are beginning to find their way into boardsport retail, Bernhard at 5ive reported: “Walk shorts and T-shirts have been a real joy across all brands. DC and Volcom especially, brought great sales.” For streetwear, Bernhard singled out Irie Daily from Berlin: “They do a perfect job in all areas and are a highlight of this season. Collections are 100% in sync with the market, from basics to current trends and the brand has history and on-point distribution.”

Outlook: Autumn/Winter ‘11/12

September kicked off the season with the opening of boom! Store in Bochum, offering a new platform for boardsports, streetwear, and footwear, combined with street art and music all in 230 square metres of retail space.

The management team consists of boardsport veterans Volker Brunswick, Bozo Wecke and former pro skater Mehmet Aydin and a rooftop skate park is in the pipeline. www.boom-store.com Looking at preparations for the upcoming season, the catchwords in retail are “focus” and “details.” Jörg Ludewig commented: “We are seeing more attention given to smaller brands by stores, in order to stand out and be able to offer customers something new again.” Richie in Hamburg said: “We are of course checking what worked last season, but also looking at every single collection to decide where to work and with what volume.”

Daniel at 540 is banking on “the basics – sadly – with smaller pre-order volumes in order to better respond to trends and the weather and demand.

What good is the best-stacked shelf, the most colourful shoe wall or the best pre-order rebate, if it makes you inflexible in the end?” At 5ive, Bernhard said that sales of the new winter and outerwear collection started in September, right on time for their season opening events in October and their own snow park, 5ive Alpspitzpark Nesselwang. “Our sales team is standing by, ready to rock the second half of the year with product knowledge and lots of motivation!” On that note, go get ‘em and have a great start to the new season!

market intelligence

france At the time of writing, the Euro has dropped below $1.35, French banks sit on the verge of a downgrade and Greece looks certain to default, making the European Union’s road ahead more uncertain than the next advertising campaign from Enjoi. The Bank of France has also just downgraded their official Q3 growth rate forecast from 0.2 to 0.1, covering themselves, as the third quarter approaches its close.

By Iker Aguirre, Lucy Paltz, Luke van Unen.

On the surfing front, I’m taking a rather idle approach, as Cedric from Pichavant Surfing in Pont Labbé in Brittany and Cyril from Tamarindo in Dollus d'Oléron both gave such an in depth, precise analysis of the question, we were only too happy to lie back, stretch our toes and let you read some real intelligence from the field.

Added to this, the banking sector seems to be going through a deep stock Said Cyril from Tamarindo: "The summer was unusual because of the market plunge and uncertainty rules. Banks are being downgraded, stock weather conditions. The media forecast an Eldorado, but the spring was a market values are plummeting, privileges are being cut short for the lot better than the summer rush of July and August. The months of April infamous CAC40 and most French are taking cover for fear the sky will to early July were excellent, with an increase in expenditure, but July was fall on their heads, but, it’s not all doom and gloom for the skate industry in affected by the weather, with a 10% decrease in activity compared to 2010 France. This summer’s skate sales were generally strong, if not improving (which was a good summer). In August, we recorded good volumes on on last summer; “From what I hear from the shops, hardware and shoes are clothes and technical goods. After August 20th, the results were mediocre pretty strong, but apparel is very slow. Hardware for V7 has been almost following the arrival of entry-level customers making the most of reduced flat this summer compared to last, which is still a disappointment. We were price trips in late August." Cédric from Pichavant Surfing adds: "Surfing expecting a little growth,” confirms Jean-Marc Vaissette is developing with an increase in sales in all categories, of V7 Distribution. This trend was echoed by the shops especially top-of-the-range and technical products. We The (summer) sales themselves, confirming that skate footwear is indeed have considerably increased surfing pre orders. The strengthening; “The (summer) sales period was quite period was quite good, decrease in sales from wind and kite surfing was made good, especially in the shoe category. Hardgoods are up for by a 30% increase in the surfing segment." especially in the shoe still selling very well, it’s more difficult in the clothing category,” informs Alexis Papadopoulus of Paris’s Visits from foreign clientele are a key factor to success category. Hardgoods Nozbone skateshop. “We had a weird spring summer in coastal areas as Cyril explains; "Since the beginning of are still selling season this year. Hot in early spring, cold and rainy in September, we have had a good pick up in sales thanks summer…” However, this unseasonal weather affected to the English, German and Dutch clientele, who always very well, it’s more coastal retailers far more than those inland. show up to surf and so purchase technical equipment." difficult in the clothing Cédric adds to this: "The German clientele checked-in in When discussing issues concerning shop business, the force and bought lots of technical products, as did the category,” informs Economic Modernisation Act (LME) once again rears its Scandinavians. We have had lots of English as well, but Alexis Papadopoulus menacing head. Alexis Papadopoulus of Nozbone sees they don't buy much." it as an ongoing issue; “It’s still the same problem, we of Paris’s Nozbone have to renegotiate deals that were done a few years When asked about products and brands that work, Cyril skateshop ago to try to preserve our terms of payment and avoid asserted: "For hardgoods, we sell lots of beginner cashflow shortage.” If you add to this increased costs boards and everything that has volume, progressive of doing business, including purchasing stock, problems boards, fishes...and used boards also go well. We are can quickly arise. Gus of the BTR Shops notes: “Prices on some products also seeing growing acknowledgment of the big brands such as NSP for have increased due to raised raw material costs, but some brands have progressive surfing and O'Neill for neoprene. However beachwear is really made an effort to offset this by offering the best quality or the best suffering, especially the technical boardshort." cuts…”

Cédric explains: "Boards from the leading brands sell very well, especially One way to gauge the overall strength of the skateboard sector is to keep an NSP, Al Merrick and Surf Tech. It is also worth noting the launch of eye on the number of shops keeping afloat. V7’s Jean-Marc, with arguably Green One boards. Bic boards are no longer selling, probably because of more total accounts than any other supplier in French skateboarding, notes distribution at Decathlon, whereas there’s been an explosion for NSP. In that in terms of shop payments, things remain difficult. The summer’s neoprene, shorties have sold really badly, to the benefit of full suits, as disappointing weather and corresponding sales performances didn’t help, surfers now want a product they can surf year round in. In the same way, either. “I was thinking the shop closures would stop, but unfortunately, thick, progressive boards have become standard." we lost some again this year, even some "reference stores" who've been around for years, like Four Wheels in Nice, or Michigan in Marseille.”

Worth highlighting also is the concentration strategy of the suppliers at Pichavant: "With regards to neoprene, we have become a Rip Curl proshop In spite of the inclement weather and disappointing apparel sales, Gus because we had too many problems with importers that could not guarantee Barba of BTR Shop – with stores in Carcassonne, Narbonne and Perpignan any after sale service. Rip Curl have the best customer service and all our – confirms surfwear still produced some results, as did walkshorts, longcustomers are satisfied with the brand's efficiency (they replace the suit sleeved shirts and windbreakers. On the hardgoods front, Gus’s summer if there is a problem). Likewise, FCS became our best supplier with good hot seller was Magenta skateboards which he says are well manufactured, guarantees so we became an FCS proshop for accessories." This kind of with good graphics and fair prices. Continuing on from the strong re- policy may prove helpful in finding the flexibility that the LME requires, emergence in spring, footwear is still looking reassuring. Frédéric Lefrancq because there are many retailers who think and act like Cyril: "We are of Zeropolis Skateshop in Lille notes that as well as a few core brands such staying cautious with our pre orders because of the LME. We will wait and as Supra, the larger brands like Adidas, Nike and Converse are performing see what the suppliers are offering because we cannot pay for a product well. With slightly better performance from apparel, skate could almost be within such short time limits when it takes us four or five months to sell." considered a healthy little sector in action sports.

60.

www.boardsportsource.com

market intelligence

UK

By Gordon Way, Ultra Sport

Good news. That is what everyone is looking for – not just in our industry, but across the board - the UK, Europe and beyond. So, I’ve been on the look out and there’s more than I thought. In truth there’s not so much bad news out there. Our niche markets, it seems, are more resilient to the recession. Would you rather be selling white goods?

Or be a pure clothing retailer? Or a John Lewis Partnership perhaps?

They’re all suffering.

Talking to industry retailers around the UK, the biggest thing they have in common is feeling SURPRISE!! Surprised at how well they are doing.

That’s not to say sales are up or booming, but it’s obviously not as bad as other markets and certainly not as bad as anticipated. Most appear to be, at the very least, holding their own. That is good news indeed.

And there’s more… participants of our sports who earn a living and pay tax will tell you that the last thing they’ll sacrifice will be their kit. They may make their board or jacket last a bit longer – but bottom line – break your board and you’re going to head out and buy a new one.

And students, God Bless them, about to rack up the biggest debt of their lives, are still spending! When the student loan slides into the bank accounts, not only do beer sales benefit, but also board sales. Younger kids are doing their bit as well! Most of us in the industry are now parents (how did that happen?) – and if our kids turn around and say they want to skate or surf – we not gonna say “no, get another Playstation” - we’ll pump money into sports to try and keep our children healthy, active and away from all the things we did! So we’re doing better than many– and miles better than poor old HMV. Good news indeed.

On the south coast, Ocean Sports Boardriders are having a similar experience. “Hardware has sold well on the skate side, clothing has moved to core brands with the ‘old favourites’ holding on. For surf, the surprise is the girls market,” said Steve “girls are buying surfboards which is great to see.” Happy with how the summer started he had this to say “for us, as everyone else, it slowed significantly in the middle

www.boardsportsource.com

Tim at the Ledge owns and runs a shop that was born from the Rollersnakes chain, but is a very different outfit. “Online is not so critical to our business,” says Tim. “We are a traditional footfall store and we need the customers to come in store to spend.” They appear to be doing just that. Tim hasn’t filled his pension fund yet, but compared to this time last year, he’s more than happy to be “out of the shit.” Caution has been his watchword for the recent past, but things are changing. “Footwear was down in the early part of the year, but everything’s bounced back and we’re really happy to see the numbers growing again. Clothing is still hard and I’d hate to be a pure clothing shop, being specialist means we have something to offer – our core customers like the brands and it’s paying off”.

Looking forward, retailers appear excited about the upcoming quarter and Christmas in particular

More good news! Winter is upon us. The white stuff will fall aplenty (silent prayer here) and for the surf shops it just means that we are closer to summer ‘12 which will bring with it sun and surf (silent prayer number two). Talking to stores this month the surprise can be heard. Rob from Rollersnakes is confident and bullish about the year “Whilst skateboard sales have dropped a little, we are confident we know why. We certainly don’t fear for the sport and are sure to regain any lost ground. All other areas are holding strong and shoe sales are massive.” I asked Rob whether sales were coming online or in-store “Both are good. The shop probably has the biggest display of skate decks in the country and this pulls in the customers. At the same time, we mail out a printed catalogue and customers love it. When it goes out, the orders come in and in store footfall increases.” Rob acknowledges that scooter sales have been important for them, but is more than happy with this, accepting it’s good business, brings kids into sport and dollar into the tills.

62.

and it’s a bit dismal currently, but it’s still going strong and the girls are keeping us busy.” The shop has a 60:40 split online/in store and both sides are buoyant, meaning Steve is looking forward to the winter season. “It’s kicking in already (September) for us with early sales of key items – it’s a nice surprise and I’m more than optimistic that we’re going to have a good Christmas.”

Looking forward, retailers appear excited about the upcoming quarter and Christmas in particular. Tim feels really confident and has placed supplier orders to match. I am not going to say ‘let’s hope he’s right’ – simply ‘he is right’!

Distributors of course, look at things differently.

They have concerns about retailer stability, but as we transition from one season to another there’s nothing new in those fears. Perhaps this time they are more on high alert than previously and this is borne out by the extended terms a lot of retailers require to see them through. Even some of the larger retailers appear to be pushing out their terms. Bad news or a new way of doing business – we’ll just have to get used to it if the banks will not lend retailers money.

Clothing could be the poor relation in all this. Some say that the surf wave, which has kept so many of our major clothing brands afloat and thriving for the past few years, is coming to an end. High street stores do not seem to be beating a path to the surf brands door and are looking elsewhere for a different offering.

For those of us dedicated to boardsports, I am not sure that this is such a bad thing – although we too have benefited from all those marketing pounds spent on spreading the word of our sports. Will it come to an end? Never – the big boys may find new directions, but they cannot forget their roots – they simply can’t!

One thing is for sure – having just spent the weekend in Polzeath – surfing is alive and thriving. The schools are busy, the hire centres are pumping out boards and wetsuits by the score and the shops were packed. OK – it was the final fling of the season– the weather was good, the surf was up, but it was great to see it still happening.

market intelligence AUSTRIA By Michael Reinwald Sales figures in the Austrian retail trade (without trade by vehicle) lay, after initial evaluations of statistics in the first half of 2011, at about 0.8% below the previous year. At the same time, in August the currency depreciation was, again according to provisional figures, 3.8% – the third-highest rate in the EU. According to Uwe from Motion Sports, the dire weather caused summer sales to slump and the back to school sales aren’t as they were a few years ago.

However in general, the boardsport industry isn’t suffering too much from the economic crisis. A few areas are feeling the burn, such as deck sales from US brands, but this is exacerbated by the trend for local brands and shops to produce their own. Technology is becoming more and more important to be able to survive on the mean streets and brands like Girl, Enjoi, Element, Zero and Plan B remain very popular. Also selling well are complete setups for beginners from Element, Darkstar and Speed Demon - those with retail prices around €120, as confirmed by Thomas from Altons-Skatehouse in Feldkirch and Robert from Ground Zero in Wr. Neustadt, who had an influx of kids stepping on a board for the first time.

The continuation of the unbroken longboarding boom is shown by almost every US skate brand having a cruiser board and soft wheels in their repertoire.

Shops that started selling longboards this year were very pleased with the results and most will extend their range for next year.

In clothing, trends are different in the towns and the country. While colour and brand logos are ‘in’ for rural regions, the urban areas are moving in the direction of simplicity with the brand name stepping into the background. At Altons-Skatehouse boardshorts with stretch materials have dominated due to their comfort and customers will happily spend more for this quality. Volcom, Billabong and DC are also strongly represented in the shorts section.

With trousers, the cut remains narrow and this directly affects shoe styles.

The classic skate shoe brands are looking a little helpless as they are being increasingly pushed out of consumer’s consciousness by shoe giants like Nike, Converse, adidas and Puma. This squeezing of the market has seen companies like Adio jack in their skate team, and es' go temporarily off the market. But hope springs eternal because some, Lakai for example, are seeing strong growth rates.

In autumn, a good turnover is expected for specific accessories. Folded or pommel beanies have seen high pre-order numbers and Mike from Glove in Villach reports glasses selling well. For snowboarding kit, it’s all about close fit pants and super long hoodies.

Some dealers are worried about the ever-increasing advancement of big fashion brands into core markets, which picks away at the niche skate brands had carved out for themselves. Added to this, the wide dispersion of many brands is a cause for concern. There is some frustration as brands that have been laboriously built up for years are then sold out with wide marketing policies just to try and make a quick buck. Some see this as a sacrifice of the original brand for dividends for the shareholders. As Thomas from AltonsSkatehouse notes, it shouldn’t, but often seems to be, forgotten that these companies made their first millions from their original aims and in the core stores. To me all there is left to say is – ‘boarding saves your day.’

praying for a good start to the school year that could be the crunch time for many.

AW11/12 deliveries generally seem to be on time this year; some have even been delivered early or even too early if you’re a shop with limited storage space! So with merchandise in place and the staff ready and willing, selling is the only thing left to do. This is easier said than done though and at the risk of repeating myself, Switzerland is suffering from the strength of the Franc and all eyes are fixed on the exchange rate. A short while ago, the Swiss Franc levelled up to the Euro, which meant that a large proportion of products whose prices had not (yet) been modified were 35% cheaper the other side of the border. It is easy to see how we will hit the wall if nothing changes soon.

To counter this problem, certain measures have been taken. Firstly on a governmental and National Bank of Switzerland (BNS) level, they have revised their monetary policy in order to weaken the Franc against the Euro. These steps seem relatively innocuous at first viewing, but have nonetheless had some effect. The most recent BNS intervention aims to stabilize the Swiss Franc at 1.20 for one Euro and to manipulate it continually to prevent it from moving from this. These steps were put in action on the 6th of September and seem to be working so far.

Secondly, we can see a reaction from a large collection of distribution companies, who import merchandise to Switzerland; for them the low Euro represents a considerable margin increase, at least in the short term. So retailers who will not be fooled are obviously demanding that the balance be reset. Following pressures and certain market logic, many suppliers paying for their goods in Euros have decided to drop their prices to allow Swiss retailers to remain more or less competitive. Some have modified their purchase price, as well as their recommended retail price, by making new price lists.

Others prefer to leave the applicable price choice up to the retailers themselves, offering a discount on their purchase price so that they can advertise this change as a special promotion linked to the exchange rate. This could be comparable to 'Euro bonuses' that are now commonplace in the car selling world, for example. With this in mind, the Amer group: Salomon, Bonfire and Atomic, have dropped their purchase price by 5% - just before the main winter sports equipment delivery. The group K2: K2 Snowboard and RIDE, is offering a 15% reduction on all that is delivered this season, but are reserving the right to change this policy if the exchange rate stabilises at 1.25 Swiss francs or more for a Euro. These various adaptations have obviously been well received by most retailers who can now look forward to starting the season with one less major handicap.

italy By Franz Hoeller

switzerland By Fabien Grisel

Italy is in a bit of trouble at present and both the European Union and now also Obama are putting heavy pressure on our government. They’re demanding the nation come up with a serious saving plan to stabilize the economy and also keep the stock market and the Euro stable throughout Europe. The first reform coming into force is a 1% increase in VAT - from 20% to 21%, which is likely to happen within the next two months. The government will have to work out some additional strategies to keep the economy growing in the long term as a tax increase won’t do that, but it will help cover the next couple of years and get us out from the massive debts we are facing right now. We’ll have to wait and see what the final suggestions are to strengthen the economy.

The south in particular is struggling, suffering from high unemployment and large-scale tax evasion.

In Switzerland, as with the rest of the world, general uncertainty is a burden on the economy, slowing consumption. Everyone is becoming more careful, wary of everything and with reason, as having just come out of one crisis, another is looming.

A wide range of different fears from investors is disrupting markets and at the same time sending public opinion spinning into disarray. Everyone remains guarded and consumption is suffering badly, so it's after a mixed summer littered with numerous financial and stock market fluctuations that we are

The boardsports business during the SS12 order season was, in general okay, but quite a few shops closed, notably in the middle and south of the country.

Some shop owners tired of bad sell through and insufficient support from banks, so they stopped trading. This has a knock on effect for every supplier, as when shops that had been there for decades close their doors, with them go the guarantee of turnover and image creation. On the other hand, there are still a lot of new openings, especially for the young and motivated, who want

64.

www.boardsportsource.com

market intelligence (ITALY CONT...) to make their pastime pay the bills.

Speaking to distributors and reps all over the country, Rome and the surrounding areas are having the most difficulties. Styles and trends seem to change really fast and shops, especially core skate and snowboard store, are facing some hard times. Some stores have even switched from skate or streetwear to mainstream fashion. Another problem is retailers need long payment terms and are used to having and getting them, but it causes cash flow and liquidity issues for a lot of suppliers, even Italian based, local brands. As the banks are really careful about giving credit, it’s not always easy to keep business running smoothly.

Trends for SS12 will be chinos, both cropped and long and v-neck, cotton tanks, worn with boat shoes. Boat shoes selling-through in skate shops?

Only time will tell! Skate hardgoods are still doing well, but the price issue remains. Kids are not too bothered about riding a special brand and it’s pro deck, instead they check price, wood quality and shape. This brings easy sales to Euro brands and local brands that are price competitive. U.S brands still do well on price-point goods, trucks and wheels. The overall best seller this spring/summer were longboards. More and more events are being held, people are coming together to found longboard crews and organize trips and longboarding is gathering fans of all ages. This definitely helps build sales, especially when an older demographic comes into the stores to buy a longboard and sees the range of goods a skateshop holds. This can potentially lead to a sale of clothing and shoes as well. The problem facing many core stores is often people think they’re kids shops and don’t realize that they might also find some cool-looking gear for themselves.

Enough of skateboarding, winter is just around the corner and shops are preparing for the cold season, let’s pray for snow so sell-through is total and riding great...news about snowboarding and maybe skiing next time.

CHEERS!

portugal

By Helder Ferreira

Portugal’s economy still is caught by the events in Greece and other European countries, despite the fulfilment (so far) of the agreement with the International Monetary Fund and the E.U. Since the change of Government last June, every measure regarding tax raises was implemented and even surpassed with more taxes. The issue now is where to cut Government expenditure?

As the Welfare State and Public Servant salaries are responsible for 80% of the total expenses, it’s extremely difficult, if not impossible to make any reductions. This is what you get when you build a Swedish Welfare State with a Moroccan economy! So the population has to understand the consequences of keeping it as it is and has to accept the need to create a new, leaner system with less guarantees or risk, in the near future, that there won’t be a Welfare State. So, socially and economically, the Portuguese are between a rock and a hard place.

The problems above have a reflection on the consumer market, especially on those dealing with less priority products. The growth of the number of consumers of boardsports products is the stabilization factor that has, so far, helped keep the market on a level or even growing. Most retailers said last season’s sales were down for specific products such as sandals and apparel.

Reasons vary, although the common one is the bad weather during June and July and the unwillingness of consumers to spend on product unusable for more than one summer, such as sandals. The owner of Waimea Surf Shop gives another reasonable explanation: the market is saturated with low price sandals. Chinese stores, big sports stores and malls all carry sandals with extremely low prices and offer a wide range. It seems he has a point, as according to the Ericeira Surf Shop manager (which has stores in most of the biggest malls), they didn’t feel any loss on sandal sales. Like others, footwear is now their best selling category. Waimea surf shop also says it has been a very good year for skate shoes and surf and skate hardgoods.

66.

www.boardsportsource.com

There’s an agreement among retailers about the importance of surfing hardgoods for the sustainability of their business. Every year there’s a noticeable increase in sales of boards, wetsuits and accessories. Even those stores that aren’t specialists for surfboards sell more wetsuits and grip pads than ever.

The importance of the Peniche WCT can’t be overstated, all the media hype around it has an obvious effect on the curiosity and willingness of people to try surfing. The big investments of some of the bigger surfing manufacturers in Portugal might mean that this is not just a passing trend. There’s real interest and most people who try it, whatever the age, get hooked.

So, there are lots of ifs for the near future of the Portuguese market. It’s of vital importance that the Government get their expenses in order. If they do, there’s no reason why the future won’t be bright for surfing and skateboarding in Portugal.

russia By Yuri Kolobov

The Russian government is predicting a crisis in Russia in 2013. Khodorkovsky (ex Yukos) actually mentioned 2012 in his latest interview from his prison cell.

Prokhorov (the BIIlionaire) joined the right wing party “Pravoe Delo” a couple of months ago (rumour has it the move was supported by the President) and was kicked out last week under mysterious circumstances. Everything in Russia everything is revolving around the elections. Unfortunately though, no party so far is taking care of the economy or working on Russia’s strategic development. This causes instability in every segment of the economy and leads to constant fluctuations in the economy. The Russian currency dropped more than 10% right before the winter season. Sales of imported goods (99% of what we have) are thus under threat. There is a common feeling that we are again on our way down. I really hope this is just fear talking.

As for action sports retail in Russia, it is in a deep depression. I am not sure it has to be reviewed on a monthly basis, as very little happening here and the overall situation is not changing. The same manifestations are being seen every time. Business is moving from independent stores to chains. I’ve decided this is last review when I still have to say these grim words about core retail disappearing. I will let you know if and when it starts looking up!

Pre-season was not successful for most distributors, due to weak sellthrough in early spring. Despite favourable weather conditions in summer, there was a lot of stock left in store at season close. Preorder volumes either decreased or stayed flat. The leading categories were wakeboards and surf shorts. Due to the Quiksilver and Trajectoria stores efforts, these sectors are booming in Moscow and are picking up in other Russian cities.

Boardshorts and T-shirtss are surf inspired and supported by the fashion of going surfing in Bali. Bicycles sold well too… this of course has nothing to do with the boardsport business! Sadly for skate shoes, the core business is almost dead here. Volume has dropped by ten times, or more. The same is evident with skateboards. Distributors are suffering. Two years ago – industry leader Freestyle distribution (Soletechnology, Nikita, Adio etc) crashed out leaving the company Sportstyle the only one left in the skateboard distribution segment, but their business is not flourishing and most of what they do sell is through their own retail (Skvot shops). They have also had to close their flagship store due to significant drop in sales and increased rent. Bad times.

Shoe sales do remain decent for such brands as DC, Vance, Nike, Adidas (Originals), due to strong marketing support from head offices and own retail outlets. Sell-through of skate shoes from these brands is a pretty good, but they are not selling to skateboarders, but to trendy kids and hipsters.

Compared with skateboarding, surfing is doing much better, strange given the lack of surf spots! Surfing is a favourite sport of young and active Russians and it is quite affordable compared to snowboarding. In August we had the first Russian championship in Vladivostok held by the recently recognized Russian Surf Federation. The first pure surf shops are emerging in big cities and the media is interested in surfing now, just as it was into snowboarding ten years ago. Most of the surf brands are well presented here; the only exception is Billabong, which is way behind the others. The snowboard season has not started yet, so let’s go through that later in autumn. Good luck everyone and let’s pray for a snowy winter to come!

Opportunities

Opportunities

DISTRIBUTORS WANTED

WINTER 2012/2013

THE FREERIDE STATE OF MIND

>, >(5; @6<

Born in Chamonix

A\Y =LYZ[pYR\UN \UZLYLZ ;LHTZ Z\JOLU ^PY a\T UpJOZ[TÂ&#x20AC;NSPJOLU ALP[W\UR[ LPULU!

30% growth in '08, '09 AND '10.

How many other brands can claim this?

(::0:;(5; +,7(9;4,5; 4(5(.,9 )<@05. 4 > +,05 (<-.(),5.,)0,;! :[LSS]LY[YL[LUKL (I[LPS\UNZSLP[\UN PT ,PURH\M -Â&#x2026;OY\UN ]VU 4P[HYILP[LYU Â&#x2039; :[YH[LNPZJOL ,PURH\MZWSHU\UN Â&#x2039; )\KNL[WSHU\UN Â&#x2039; 2VUKP[PVUZ]LYOHUKS\UNLU Â&#x2039; =VYVYKLY -VYLJHZ[PUN Â&#x2039; )YHUKTHUHNLTLU[ Â&#x2039;

For 23 years Forcefield have pioneered and led the world in soft, high performance, comfortable armour technologies. We are expanding fast, with innovative, award winning and class leading products.

Â&#x2039;

Distributors wanted now in the Wintersports industry for...

Q Q Q Q

Austria France Spain Germany

Q Q Q Q

Benelux Baltics Balkans Norway

Q Q Q Q

Finland Denmark Russia Japan

Q Canada Q USA

If you want to sell the World's best Body Armour please contact Matthew Dawson; (matthew@daviesodell.co.uk) or call on

0044 (0)7540 122501.

+,05, 8<(30-02(;065!

4PUKLZ[LUZ 1HOYL )LY\MZLYMHOY\UN PT ,PURH\M ]VU :[YLL[^LHY \UK )VHYKZWVY[Z -Â&#x2026;OY\UNZLYMHOY\UN Â&#x2039; )>3 :[\KP\T VKLY ]LYNSLPJOIHYL RH\MTpUUPZJOL (\ZIPSK\UN

Â&#x2039; (\ZNLWYpN[LZ 2UV^ /V^ :aLULLYMHOY\UN PU KLU )LYLPJOLU :\YM :RH[L \ :UV^ Â&#x2039; :LOY N\[L 7YVK\R[RLUU[UPZZL PU \UZLYLT :VY[PTLU[ Â&#x2039; :LOY N\[L 4: 6MĂ&#x201E;JL 2LUU[UPZZL Â&#x2039; .\[L ,UNSPZJORLUU[UPZZL Â&#x2039; 2LUU[UPZZL TP[ (\Z^LY[\UNZ \UK (UHS`ZL[VVSZ Â&#x2039; ,YNLIUPZVYPLU[PLY[LZ HUHS`[PZJOLZ +LURLU Â&#x2039; :[Y\R[\YPLY[L \UK ZLSIZ[pUKPNL (YILP[Z^LPZL Â&#x2039; =LYOHUKS\UNZNLZJOPJR \UK 0UUV]H[P]LZ +LURLU Â&#x2039; .LZWÂ&#x2026;Y MÂ&#x2026;Y ;YLUKZ Â&#x2039; ;LHTMpOPNRLP[ Â&#x2039;

JOIN US!

Â&#x2039;

Perfect MomentÂŽ is a performance clothing brand, designed by riders and tested by riders. Our collections are both winter and summer.

We are looking for well connected distributors with strong experience and passion for the ski/outdoor sector to help us lunch the winter collection in: â&#x20AC;˘Sweden â&#x20AC;˘Switzerland â&#x20AC;˘Norway â&#x20AC;˘Italy â&#x20AC;˘Germany

To become part of the Perfect MomentÂŽ Team please get in touch with Patrick asap pblary@perfectmoment.com

www.forcefieldbodyarmour.com Visit our stand at ISPO

>PY IPL[LU +PY KPL 4Â&#x20AC;NSPJORLP[ ZJOULSS LPNLU]LYHU[^VY[SPJOL (\MNHILU a\ Â&#x2026;ILYULOTLU \UK PU LPULT K`UHTPZJOLU OVJO TV[P]PLY[LU ;LHT PU HUNLULOTLY (YILP[ZH[TVZWOpYL a\ HYILP[LU ,Z LY^HY[L[ +PJO LPUL H[[YHR[P]L \UK SLPZ[\UNZNLYLJO[L =LYNÂ&#x2026;[\UN

OUR COLLECTION COMPRISES OF â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘

APPAREL SKIS HELMETS SUNGLASSES GOGGLES

>PY MYL\LU \UZ H\M +LPUL )L^LYI\UN Âś ]VYa\NZ^LPZL WLY , 4HPS Âś TP[ H\ZZHNLRYpM[PNLU <U[LYSHNLU \U[LY (UNHIL +LPULY .LOHS[Z]VYZ[LSS\UNLU 2VU[HR[! 7SHUL[ :WVY[Z .TI/ c -SÂ&#x20AC;Â?LYNHZZL c 4Â&#x2026;UJOLU Â&#x2039; ,THPS! QVIZ'WSHUL[ ZWVY[Z JVT (UZWYLJOWHY[ULY! ;HUQH :\JOHULJR

www.perfectmoment.com

$=B6RXUFHB [ B LQGG

Die Kickz AG ist in den letzten 18 Jahren von einem jungen, aufstrebenden Unternehmen zu einem etablierten und weltweit bekannten Vertrieb fĂźr Sport und Urban Clothing gewachsen und im Bereich Basketball seit Jahren auĂ&#x;er Konkurrenz. Sneakerheads und Basketball Enthusiasten gleichermaĂ&#x;en kaufen in unseren in ganz Deutschland verteilten Ladengeschäften ein oder bestellen Ăźber unseren Online-Shop KICKZ.com, der schon seit 1998 richtungsweisend im Internetversandhandel ist.

FĂźr unser Projekt Skatekickz.com suchen wir ab sofort eine/n engagierte/n und motivierte/n

Modano Distribution sucht zur Verstärkung des Vertriebsteams zum nächstmÜglichen Zeitpunkt:

Handelsvertreter (m/w) oder Handelsagenturen

TRAINEE (M/W) EINKAUF UND PROJEKTMANAGEMENT MIT SCHWERPUNKT BOARDSPORTS

Jeweils fĂźr die Marken

Imaginary Foundation; SUTSU; Hot Tuna In verschiedenen PLZ Gebieten in Deutschland Wenn SIE - Erfahrung im Vertrieb haben - Selbstständig und engagiert Arbeiten - eine gute Beratungskompetenz und - gute kommunikative Fähigkeiten haben

dann senden Sie ihre Bewerbung an:

Jobs@Modano.de Modano Germany oHG Sernatingenstr. 19 78351 Bodman-Ludwigshafen Tel. +49(0)160 97 65 61 86

www.Modano.de

68.

www.boardsportsource.com : for the very latest job vacancies

Zu deinen Aufgaben gehĂśren: - Einkauf von Textil und Hardware (inkl. Messebesuche, Ordertermine) - Warenmanagement (Betreuung, Vor- und Nachorder) - Konditionsverhandlungen

- Erstellen von Abverkaufsstatistiken und Auswertungen - Marketing (Website, Newsletter, Print- und Onlinemedien) - Entwicklung von Ideen zur Weiterentwicklung des Projekts skatekickz.com Das solltest du mitbringen: - Abitur oder abgeschlossene Berufsausbildung

- Gute Englisch-Kenntnisse - Ausgeprägtes Zahlenverständnis - Sehr gute Szenekenntnisse - Teamfähigkeit - Selbständige und strukturierte Arbeitsweise - Hohes MaĂ&#x; an Eigeninitiative - GespĂźr fĂźr Trends - Sehr gute Produkt- und Warenkenntnisse

Wir freuen uns auf deine aussagekräftige Bewerbung. Bitte sende diese an: hr@kickz.com oder Kickz AG, Personalabteilung KraepelinstraĂ&#x;e 51a, 80804 MĂźnchen

CoolShoe est depuis 30 ans une marque incontournable du marchĂŠ du footwear.

Leader du marchĂŠ français de la tong, CoolShoe sâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;est attachĂŠ Ă concevoir des modèles haut de gamme, originaux et innovants de tongs (slaps) et de chaussures.

Nous recrutons un(e) :

>, >(5; @6< A\Y =LYZ[pYR\UN \UZLYLZ ;LHTZ Z\JOLU ^PY a\T UpJOZ[TÂ&#x20AC;NSPJOLU ALP[W\UR[ LPULU!

DESIGNER PRODUIT / CHEF DE COLLECTION Missions : Analyse du comportement de la marque et ĂŠtude de la concurrence / Analyse du feedback des commerciaux Recherche des influences et ĂŠlaborations des lignes de produit Elaboration du plan de collection Etude et choix des fournisseurs en fonction des contraintes de dĂŠveloppement, des prix et des dĂŠlais.

Elaboration des cahiers de tendances, des gammes de couleurs et sourcing et du choix des matières pour les collections Homme, Femme et Enfants.

Supervision et coordination de stylistes freelance RĂŠalisation des dessins et des fiches techniques (en anglais) des collections tongs, chaussures et accessoires.

CrĂŠation de tous dĂŠveloppements graphiques (all-over, dessins placĂŠs, marquages,...)

Suivi des produits de la mise au point des prototypes jusquâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Ă la production. (commentaires sur les ĂŠchantillons, suivi fournisseurs en anglais, contrĂ´le qualitĂŠ) DĂŠplacements en usine dans le cadre du dĂŠveloppement, du sourcing ou de la production. (Chine, Vietnam, IndonĂŠsie) PrĂŠsentation des collections dans le cadre des rĂŠunions commerciales

,052f<-,9 4 >

:JO^LYW\UR[ )VHYKZWVY[Z :UV^IVHYK :RH[L :\YM (WWHYLS /HYKNVVKZ +,05 (<-.(),5.,)0,;! <TMHZZLUKL )L[YL\\UN \UK =LYHU[^VY[\UN KLY Â&#x2026;ILY[YHNLULU 4HYRLU )\KNL[WSHU\UN Â&#x2039; 2VUKP[PVUZ]LYOHUKS\UNLU Â&#x2039; :VY[PTLU[Z 7YVK\R[WĂ&#x2026;LNL Ia^ 6W[PTPLY\UN Â&#x2039; (I]LYRH\MZZ[H[PZ[PRLU \UK (\Z^LY[\UNLU Â&#x2039; =VY \UK 5HJOVYKLY Â&#x2039; Â&#x2039;

+,05, 8<(30-02(;065!

4PUKLZ[LUZ 1HOYL )LY\MZLYMHOY\UN PT ,PURH\M )LYLPJO )VHYKZWVY[Z )>3 :[\KP\T VKLY ]LYNSLPJOIHYL RH\MTpUUPZJOL (\ZIPSK\UN (\ZNLWYpN[LZ 2UV^ /V^ :aLULLYMHOY\UN PU KLU )LYLPJOLU :\YM :RH[L \ :UV^ Â&#x2039; :LOY N\[L 4: 6MĂ&#x201E;JL 2LUU[UPZZL Â&#x2039; .\[L ,UNSPZJORLUU[UPZZL Â&#x2039; 2LUU[UPZZL TP[ (\Z^LY[\UNZ \UK (UHS`ZL[VVSZ Â&#x2039; ,YNLIUPZVYPLU[PLY[LZ HUHS`[PZJOLZ +LURLU Â&#x2039; :[Y\R[\YPLY[L \UK ZLSIZ[pUKPNL (YILP[Z^LPZL Â&#x2039; .LZWÂ&#x2026;Y MÂ&#x2026;Y ;YLUKZ Â&#x2039; ;LHTMpOPNRLP[ Â&#x2039; Â&#x2039; Â&#x2039;

>PY IPL[LU +PY KPL 4Â&#x20AC;NSPJORLP[ ZJOULSS LPNLU]LYHU[^VY[SPJOL (\MNHILU a\ Â&#x2026;ILYULOTLU \UK PU LPULT K`UHTPZJOLU OVJO TV[P]PLY[LU ;LHT PU HUNLULOTLY (YILP[ZH[TVZWOpYL a\ HYILP[LU ,Z LY^HY[L[ +PJO LPUL H[[YHR[P]L \UK SLPZ[\UNZNLYLJO[L =LYNÂ&#x2026;[\UN >PY MYL\LU \UZ H\M +LPUL )L^LYI\UN Âś ]VYa\NZ^LPZL WLY , 4HPS Âś TP[ H\ZZHNLRYpM[PNLU <U[LYSHNLU \U[LY (UNHIL +LPULY .LOHS[Z]VYZ[LSS\UNLU

2VU[HR[! 7SHUL[ :WVY[Z .TI/ c -SÂ&#x20AC;Â?LYNHZZL c 4Â&#x2026;UJOLU Â&#x2039; ,THPS! QVIZ'WSHUL[ ZWVY[Z JVT (UZWYLJOWHY[ULY! ;HUQH :\JOHULJR

$=B6RXUFHB [ B LQGG

Profil: t %ZOBNJRVF DSĂ?BUJG SJHPVSFVY FU BVUPOPNF t %F GPSNBUJPO TVQĂ?SJFVSF TUZMJTUF PV EFTJHOFS QSPEVJU WPVT EJTQPTF[ E VOF TPMJEF expĂŠrience dans le design et le dĂŠveloppement produit. t 0SHBOJTĂ? FU NĂ?UIPEJRVF WPUSF FYQĂ?SJFODF WPVT QFSNFU E Ă?USF GPSDF EF proposition stylistique, de comprendre les enjeux commerciaux, de crĂŠer et

EĂ?WFMPQQFS EFT DPMMFDUJPOT 7PVT BQQSĂ?DJF[ MF USBWBJM FO Ă?RVJQF 7PT DBQBDJUĂ?T Ă&#x2039; communiquer vous permettent de faire le lien avec les autres dĂŠpartements de lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;entreprise. t "OHMBJT JNQĂ?SBUJG .BĂ&#x201D;USJTF E *MMVTUSBUPS FU E &YDFM JOEJTQFOTBCMF $0/53"5 $%* Ă&#x2039; QPVSWPJS EĂ&#x2019;T RVF QPTTJCMF Envoyer CV + lettre de motivation avant le 21 juillet 2011 Ă cecile.ricard@cool-shoe.com

For the very latest distribution offers goto: www.boardsportsource.com

69

Surf SKATE SNOW TRADE

EVENTS

OCTOBER/OCTOBRE/OKTOBER 4 - 13

SW COAST

FRANCE

SURF WWW.ASPWORLDTOUR.COM

7 EUROSIMA WATERMAN'S BALL HOSSEGOR

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE

FRANCE

SURF WWW.EUROSIMA.COM

15 - 24 RIP CURL PRO

PENICHE

PORTUGAL

SURF WWW.ASPWORLDTOUR.COM

19-23

METROSNOW

LONDON

UK

TRADE WWW.METROSNOW.COM

28-29 RELENTLESS FREEZE

LONDON

UK

SNOW WWW.RELENTLESSFREEZE.COM

29-1

MODENA

ITALY

TRADE WWW.SKIPASS.IT

SKIPASS

NOVEMBER/NOVEMBRE/NOVEMBER 1-7

CONFITAL

GRAN CANARIA

SURF WWW.ASPWORLDTOUR.COM

1-12 RIP CURL SEARCH

ISLAS CANARIAS OCEAN & EARTH PRO

SAN FRANCISCO

USA

SURF WWW.ASPWORLDTOUR.COM

11-13 HORSEFEATHERS PLEASURE JAM

DACHSTEIN

AUSTRIA

SNOW WWW.PLEASUREJAM.COM

16-27

ASP MEN'S LONGBOARD WORLD CHAMPS

ITALY

SURF WWW.ASPWORLDTOUR.COM

19-20

TELEKOM EXTREME PLAYGROUND

GERMANY

SKATE WWW.WCSK8.COM

BERLIN

DECEMBER/DECEMBRE/DEZEMBER 8-20

BILLABONG PIPE MASTERS

OAHU HAWAII

SURF WWW.ASPWORLDTOUR.COM

10-11

AUDI SNOWBOARD SERIES

LAAX

SWITZERLAND

SNOW WWW.TTRWORLDTOUR.COM

GERMANY

SNOW WWW.BIGAIR-STUTTGART.COM

16-17 RELENTLESS BIG AIR STUTTGART

18 WORLD SNOWBOARD DAY Worldwide

SNOW WWW.WORLD-SNOWBOARD-DAY.COM

JANUARY/JANIVER/JANUAR 2-7

O'NEILL EVOLUTION

DAVOS

SWITZERLAND

SNOW WWW.TTRWORLDTOUR.COM

7-14

BURTON EUROPEAN OPEN

LAAX

SWITZERLAND

SNOW WWW.TTRWORLDTOUR.COM

ITALY,

SNOW WWW.WORLDSNOWBOARDFEDERATION.ORG

14-18

PROTEST WORLD ROOKIE FEST

LIVIGNO

15-17

SHOPS FIRST TRY

TBA

TRADE WWW.SHOPS-FIRST-TRY.COM

15-17

SNOW AVANT PREMIERE

LA CLUSAZ

FRANCE

TRADE WWW.SNOWAVANTPREMIERE.COM

16-17

ANNECY SHOWROOM AVANT PREMIERE

ANNECY

FRANCE

TRADE WWW.ASAP-ANNECY.COM

18-20

BREAD & BUTTER

BERLIN

GERMANY

TRADE WWW.BREADANDBUTTER.COM

19-21

BRIGHT

BERLIN

GERMANY

TRADE WWW.BRIGHTTRADESHOW.COM

22-24

PRO SHOP TEST

TRENTO

ITALY

TRADE WWW.PROSHOPTEST.COM

22-25

SKI TEST TOUR

MERIBEL

FRANCE

SNOW WWW.SKITESTTOUR.COM

27-28

MONSTER ENERGY GLEMM.BANG

SAALBACH

AUSTRIA

SNOW WWW.TTRWORLDTOUR.COM

29-1

ISPO

MUNICH

GERMANY

TRADE WWW.ISPO.COM

2-4

ISPO ON SNOW DEMO HINTERTUX

AUSTRIA

TRADE WWW.ISPO.COM

2-4

BILLABONG AIR & STYLE

INNSBRUCK

AUSTRIA

SNOW WWW.TTRWORLDTOUR.COM

5-6

SNOW AVANT PREMIERE

PEYRAGUDES

FRANCE

SNOW WWW.SNOWAVANTPREMIERE.COM

5-8

BASE WORKSHOP

BIARRITZ

FRANCE

TRADE WWW.BASE-WORKSHOP.FR

8-9

SKI TEST TOUR

SERRE CHEVALIER

FRANCE

SNOW WWW.SKITESTTOUR.COM

9-12 ROXY SNOW PRO

SAALBACH

AUSTRIA

SNOW WWW.TTRWORLDTOUR.COM

11

STARS OF THE STADIUM

SALPAUSSELKÄ

FINLAND

SNOW WWW.TTRWORLDTOUR.COM

12-14

SLIDE

TELFORD

UK

TRADE WWW.SLIDEUK.CO.UK

FEBRUARY/FEVRIER/FEBRUAR

12-19 WORLD SNOWBOARDING CHAMPIONSHIPS OSLO NORWAY

SNOW WWW.TTRWORLDTOUR.COM

17-18

SONY ERICSSON SNOWBOARD FEST

DRIENICA

SLOVAKIA

SNOW WWW.TTRWORLDTOUR.COM

21-24

BURN RIVER JUMP

LIVIGNO

ITALY

SNOW WWW.TTRWORLDTOUR.COM

MARCH/MARS/MÄRZ 1-4 NESCAFE CHAMPS

LEYSIN

SWITZERLAND

SNOW WWW.TTRWORLDTOUR.COM

2-4

SHRED DOWN AUSTRIAN MASTERS

INNSBRUCK

AUSTRIA

SNOW WWW.TTRWORLDTOUR.COM

2-4

SPORT-ACHAT WINTER

LYON

FRANCE

TRADE WWW.SPORT-ACHAT.COM

8-11

SHRED DOWN AUSTRIAN MASTERS WESTENDORF

AUSTRIA

SNOW WWW.TTRWORLDTOUR.COM

8-11

PONEY SESSION

ST LARY

FRANCE

SNOW WWW.TTRWORLDTOUR.COM

16-16 WINTER X GAMES EUROPE

TIGNES

FRANCE

SNOW WINTERXGAMESEUROPE.CANALPLUS.FR

21-24

TOTAL FIGHT MASTERS OF FREESTYLE

GRANDVALIRA

ANDORRA

SNOW WWW.TOTALFIGHTMASTERS.COM

28-30

QUIKSILVER SPRING BATTLE

FLACHAUWINKL

AUSTRIA

SNOW WWW.ABSOLUTPARK.COM

28-1

CATFIGHT

LEVI

FINLAND

SNOW WWW.TTRWORLDTOUR.COM

all the latest events can be found on our website - www.boardsportsource.com 70.

www.boardsportsource.com

one eyed monster 55

Sector 9 Euro HQ opening

Hotzone.tv Park Opening Hintertux

Bjรถrn Bettermann (Bataleon)

Bamboo Crew

Christoph Gross (Rhythm) and Michi Schatz (Rider)

Andreas Maurmeir (Sector9 Europe Marketing & Shop Coordinator)

Jan Skutnik (Horsefeathers Territory Manager France)

Marcus & Sly (SECTOR9)

New HQ

Office and Showroom

SKULL Candy

Sly (SECTOR9) Denis (Source Mag)

Tibs (Sector9 Sales France)

Tez and Harry - Two Distribution

Wes Morgan - Rock Solid Distribution

Fabian Ortler und Harry Schaffrian (Nitro)

Surf Summit / Watermans Ball Hannes (Ride) and Basti (K2 Snowbording)

Julia Gsellmann, Sam Tapper and Gabi (all Rhythm)

Julian and Mau, Film Crew

Julian Pintarelli, Maurino, Drew and Hermann Erler

munchie Crew

Nik (die Aesthetiker) and Simon (Slytech, Shred)

Raffi, Bjรถrn (Bataleon) and Kerstin (Bataleon, Lobster)

Stefan (DC) and Muck (munchie Konsilium)

Sven Schlager and Paco (both Planet Sports)

Tobi and Stefan from Silbรฆrg Snowboards

Tobi Rank (munchie Konsilium) and Meike Vetter (snowboarder MBM)

Toby Leyendecker aka "der Dachs" and Maja Dobovisek (both Lib Tech)

Alain SEVELLEC (Organiser)

Damien (GREENFIX) Mark Phipps (Shaper)

GREENFIX Julien & Damien

Main Exhibition Room

The Ledge

Notox

Outside

Outside

UWL stand

Adam Wood - i-five Distribution

Salon des Glisseurs

72.

www.boardsportsource.com

Ian Hendrie - TKC Sales

www.boardsportsource.com

73