California Apparel News

Two specialty trade show organizations have put together Back-to-School shows for the action sports youth culture in response to manufacturers’ requests for a show geared toward the Back-to-School market.

Orlando, Fla.-based Surf Expo will be the first to present one of these events with its Surf Expo BTS West, which will be held March 11–12 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif.

The show is expected to draw some 700 visitors to a 143,000-square-foot section of the center. About 67 youth culture apparel lines will occupy approximately 96 booths. Some of the exhibitors include Ezekiel Clothing, Billabong, Ocean Pacific, Surf Chick, Roxy, BC Ethic, Pony, Hawk Clothing Inc., O’Neill, Rusty and Syko.

Surf Expo organizers have also put together an industry roundtable called “Consolidating Line Breaks and Deliveries for Fall/BTS Season.” It will be held in room 213A of the center at 4 p.m. on March 11. Panel members include Randy Blumer of Honolua Surf Co.; Tom Holbrook of Quiksilver; Chris Raya of Counter Culture; Royce Cansler of Ezekiel; Jurgen Schulz of K-5 Boardrider Shop; John Sabo of Ron Jon Surf Shop; and Roy Turner of Surf City. A reception for show attendees will immediately follow the roundtable discussion.

“Our goal early on was to produce a convention center show where buyers would be able to see all the Back-to-School lines in their entirety in a forum that met retailers’ and manufacturers’ timing requirements,” said Lori Kisner, vice president of dmg world media/Surf Expo, parent company to Surf Expo.

Dan Darby, dmg director of marketing, said about 95 percent of the show’s exhibitors are Surf Expo alumni, adding that the event is a culmination of three years of research into the rapidly growing Back-to-School market. Darby said his company received a phenomenal response to the 75,000 direct mail flyers sent to action sportswear manufacturers across the United States, as well as strong response to telemarketing campaigns aimed at recruiting retailers to the show.

The response to the idea of a show geared toward Back-to-School lines was so overwhelming, Darby said, that Surf Expo has reserved space for the event to be held annually at the Anaheim Convention Center until 2004.

Darby said Surf Expo BTS West will include some alternative streetwear, but as for which category will figure prominently at the show, he said, “We tried to keep the number of lines in each category pretty even, but the trends in surfwear seem to be a little stronger.

The other Back-to-School show, ASR Back2Skool, is new to the Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo (ASR) trade show lineup, which now consists of three annual shows. More than 500 retailers are expected to attend the event, set to be held March 19–20 in the 10,000-square-foot exhibitor hall at the Waterfront Hilton Beach Resort in Huntington Beach, Calif.

“[ASR Back2Skool] is the conception, growth and birth of a new show that the market has developed a need for,” said Darin Dennee, publisher of ASR. Denee added that plans for a 2003 Back2Skool show in Huntington Beach are currently in motion.

According to Dennee, about 30 percent to 40 percent of business done in action sports youth markets is for Back-to-School items. He went on to say that the sold-out Back2Skool event is proof of manufacturers’ and retailers’ increased interest in those markets.

“Mid-March is when retailers are ready to see Fall lines to get a sense of what’s going to be hot sellers and [it] allows them to make more intelligent buying decisions for Fall,” Dennee said.

ASR took a unique approach to marketing its Back2Skool show by asking its regular exhibitors to suggest a list of buyers that they would like to see at the show. Organizers contacted the retailers to personally invite them to attend the show, Dennee said.

The show is expecting about 112 booths featuring more than 100 cutting-edge exhibitors, including Volcom, Porn Star, Stussy, L Space, Fresh Jive, Starlette, 26 Red Sugar, Tribal Streetwear, Split Girls, Paul Frank Industries, Dawls and Hurley Girley.

New lines debuting at Back2Skool include Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Paul Frank Industries’ men’s line; San Diego-based Allias Distributions’ junior streetwear and casual footwear collection Copia and skate apparel line Elenex; and Ecko Unlimited’s new junior streetwear collection for young women, Ecko Red.

The young girls’ streetwear market, which has experienced some growth recently, is likely to have a strong presence at the show, although Dennee said that the increase of exhibitors in girls’ categories is marginal compared to the increase in alternative streetwear and lifestyle brands such as Mooks, Ecko, 55 DSL by Diesel, Ambiguous and Drunken Monkey.

“Many of the young women’s and men’s exhibitors are coming to the show for the selling environment and because the mix is strong,” Dennee said. “There are a lot of good brands who want to share the same buyer base and want to be around other good brands.”

Surf Expo BTS West will be held in Hall E at the Anaheim Convention Center. It is open to members of the trade only. The show’s hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on March 11 and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on March 12. For more information, call (800) 947-7873 or (714) 978-1840, or go to www.surfexpo.com.

Show hours for ASR Back2Skool are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Exhibitors and buyers are invited to attend a Back2Skool party, sponsored by Hurley, Reef and ESPN, which will begin at 6:30 p.m. on March 19 at Duke’s near the Huntington Beach Pier, with musical entertainment by White Buffalo and Triston Prettyman. For more information, call (949) 376-6215 or go to www.asrbiz.com.