California Apparel News

The Spring 2003 edition of the Action Sports Retailer (ASR) Trade Expo, held Sept. 5–7 at the San Diego Convention Center, got off to a slow start but picked up momentum and ended up with buyer attendance figures matching those for last year’s event, according to ASR show director Kevin Flanagan.

“The buyer numbers were right on par with last year’s [numbers],” said Flanagan. “The exhibitor numbers were down about 4 percent, but that was due to consolidation within the industry. People were being tighter with their pocketbooks.”

Flanagan also said that the strongest interest was in the surf category for both men and women.

“We saw a return to surf—that’s brands like Quiksilver, Billabong and Hurley,” he said. “Movies like ’Blue Crush,’ which featured women who surf in Hawaii, created a lot of interest in that category.”

The strong showing at ASR was attributed to the sales strength of action sports across all segments, which Flanagan said “stood up with stability in a difficult economy.”

Amber Sharpe, co-owner of Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Lucy Love, agreed, reporting a good response to her swim line, consisting of basic cuts and returning Brazilian cuts.

“We’re coming in at a good time, because from talking to our accounts, everyone is saying that they are coming off of the best swim year ever,” said Sharpe. “We’ve had the greatest weather ever.”

Jessica Trent Nichols, marketing manager for Irvine, Calif.- based Billabong, also reported a solid year but attributed it more to the line’s brand recognition.

“I think we have a pretty set following,” she said. “[The downturn in the economy] didn’t really seem to have a major effect on our business. We are plowing ahead and we’ve been really happy with how things have turned out over the past year.”

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Billabong struck a deal with Universal Studios to outfit all the surfers in “Blue Crush” with Billabong apparel.

Dick Baker, chief executive officer of Ocean Pacific, said the first day of ASR was the busiest opening day for the show he had seen in some time. Baker also said that results at the show depended on brand positioning.

“Given the current retail climate, if you’re a valid brand doing business, you were very busy,” he said. “If you were waiting for walkin traffic, it was very quiet.”

Flanagan shared that sentiment.

“Exhibitors who attend need to have focus,” he said. “They have to make sure they have everything set up. The ones who are successful are the ones who come into the show with distinct and measurable goals.”

That was the case for exhibitor Gina Young, a rep for Carpenteria, Calif.-based Pelle Pelle and BedStu Shoes, who was using the show to build name recognition for the two established brands on the West Coast and in the boardsports market.

“We’re trying to be innovative by touching a new market and we’re making an impact,” she said. “We thought it would be a stretch for us to do surf and skate, but it’s working, because everyone here is not purely surf or skate. It’s definitely been an enlightening show to let us know our merchandise is attractive.”

That was also the strategy for Atlanta-based urban athletic brand Discus Athletic, which showed at ASR for the first time. The company previously went bankrupt but has since been acquired by Russell Athletic and is relaunching with a small women’s line and a broader men’s line for Spring 2003.

Rebekah Page, business manager for the company, said she made appointments but was still looking to open more stores and to garner additional exposure on the West Coast.

“It’s just really important for us to be here to know the area and the retailers and learn everything about it,” she said.

Growth in Juniors

Though exhibitor numbers were down due to a consolidation of companies that hold multiple brands, exhibitors and attendees still saw an increase in the number of junior labels at the show. “You usually see more new guys’ lines, but I saw a few new girls’ lines here,” said Billabong’s Nichols.

Paul Naude, Billabong’s president, echoed the sentiment, noting that he saw a “strong resurgence in the West Coast lifestyle brand, particularly in the juniors market.”

Steven Sais, a rep for New Yorkbased Triple Five Soul, also saw a trend toward the women’s side of his brand at the show.

“We’re seeing a lot more women than men,” said Sais. “Macy’s and Mr. Ragz have been through here and even Demo wants to give [our juniors collection] a shot for Spring.”

For the first time, O’Neill broke out a separate juniors booth that stayed busy, according to Cindy Carper, O’Neill’s juniors merchandising and design director, who was expecting a 25 percent increase in ASR sales compared to last year. Boardshorts, matching skirts and sweat suits were doing a brisk business, she said.

Carper identified O’Neill’s recent partnerships with Macy’s West and Gottschalks as key to helping the company grow its juniors business.

“They’re working with us to keep the authenticity of the brand strong,” she said.

Noted Rob Smith, Macy’s West’s juniors divisional merchandise manager, “The juniors segment is a growing business for us.”

Retailers Upbeat

The mood among retailers was buoyant at the show, with many buyers planning to spend more on orders than they did last year, following a downturn that began after Sept. 11, when orders were being canceled.

Coming off a positive announcement of a 12.9 percent increase in same-store sales, Greg Weaver, Pacific Sunwear’s CEO, said he was “optimistic” about the coming months. His company’s better inventory position was able to weather the retail storm.

“We planned for more aggressive inventory levels while our c o m p e t i t o r s scaled back,” Weaver said, adding that Pacific Sunwear will open 17 new stores by the end of the year.

Since Dickies Girl, Fox Racing Co. and Hurley led the sales drive, Weaver said he plans to fill in with those companies for immediates for Holiday, including denim for girls, fleece-driven outerwear and striped knits.

ASR also drew representatives from Macy’s West, which has begun to carry Dickies and Roxy.

According to Smith, Macy’s has also changed its strategy in terms of trade show attendance.

“We decided to split up our buying group and I came here instead of MAGIC [International],” he said, adding, “There’s more newness here.”

Most buyers were on a scouting mission with plans to place orders later in the month.

Diane Pratt, owner of Newport Beach, Calif.-based KAOS Clothing, planned to spend 15 percent more at ASR compared to last year. She said she was focusing on items from Billabong, O’Neill, Fox and Dickies Girl.

“I can’t stay on top of Dickies,” she said. “It’s basic and cute and my customers buy them in five colors.”

Another Dickies Girl fan was Patti Russell, owner of the threestore Sporting Life chain in Toronto.

“Dickies price points are fantastic,” she said.

The girl power–inspired clothes of La Jolla, Calif.-based Surf Diva caught her eye, from the “boybeaters” (sleeveless ribbed tanks) to the sweats. She said cheeky fashion is what attracts her customer.

“Tons of Paul Frank flies out the door—it’s anything whimsical and not too serious,” she said.

Staying true to their roots was also helping independent stores keep cash registers ringing. More than ever, they’re relying on displays of edited merchandise.

“We carry things deeper and don’t need to carry every name out there,” said Randy Strunk, owner of the 30-year-old Pacific Beach Surf Shop in San Diego. “We don’t need to be everything to everybody.”

Flanagan reported having a good mix of retailers at the show.

“We had a great cross-section of buyers from throughout the nation and strong attendance of international distributors,” he said. “We have three shows, but this one always seems to be the must-attend event for the action sports industry.”

Divergence From MAGIC

ASR’s showing in San Diego comes on the heels of MAGIC’s August show in Las Vegas. The massive MAGIC has beefed up its boardsports category in recent seasons, even picking up some familiar ASR features, including the vert ramp demonstrations on the show floor.

Even so, Flanagan said there’s not a lot of direct competition from MAGIC.

“There’s competition in any sort of trade business-to-business enterprise. MAGIC is a great show and does a lot of things well, but we’re the predominant action sports trade show,” he said.

Ryan Heuser of Paul Frank reported that his company splits its attention between MAGIC and ASR by selecting one ASR installment.

“We only do the San Diego ASR,” he said. “We’re so diversified that we have accounts that we serve at MAGIC, and then accounts that are surf-, snow- and skate-based, so we have demand at both shows. At MAGIC, we’re dealing with the bigger stores and the chains, but here it’s more boutiques and specialty stores.”

Adrian Nyman, president of Irvine, Calif.- based NC Collective, which was showing basic T-shirts, five-pocket denim and limited-edition jeans with sublimated picture pockets for Spring and Summer ’03, was nervous at ASR based on the level of traffic at MAGIC.

“I was a little nervous because MAGIC was light, but the turnout here was good and we’ve been booked solid every day,” said Nyman. “Retailers are definitely looking for something new. The bigger brands are getting overexposed [and] the retailers are looking to diversify their mix.”

Chris Raya, sales rep for Irvine, Calif.-based Counter Culture, showing boardshorts, walkshorts, knit and woven shirts, basic five-pocket denim and jeans with a gelprint back pocket, reported a similar split in the types of buyers shopping the two shows. Raya said that his company saw bigger accounts at MAGIC and specialty accounts at ASR.

“We’re seeing a lot of core specialty stores, surf shops, skate shops and everything from Fred Segal to Urban Outfitters—pretty much a big cross-section,” he said. “We’ve been pretty busy. We’re youth lifestyle, primarily surf, but we’d rather go with whatever the kids do.”

New Show Layout

At ASR, some exhibitors were complaining that traffic looked light and that aisles were less crowded than in the past, but Flanagan explained that the show was in a bigger section of the convention center, where the aisles were wider, making the traffic look lighter than it actually was.

“The San Diego Convention Center bought a new wing, so we had almost double our space,” he said. “We had two center aisles, and we were able to space things out a bit. We were on the main floor, and before we were on the second floor.”

Flanagan said that a panel of 30 buyers was polled and reported that the show was one of the best in terms of ease of shopping.

“It wasn’t as congested, and they were able to easily get to their appointments,” said Flanagan. “The exhibitors were there and ready to show their products.”

Boardsport exhibitions and activities went successfully and mobs of people were on the streets for the various evening activities that are customarily a part of ASR

The next showing of ASR will be at the Long Beach Convention Center Jan. 23–25, 2003.

ASR, organized by VNU Expositions, produces four trade shows each year. Along with the San Diego exposition, shows are held in Atlantic City, N.J.; Huntington Beach, Calif.; and Long Beach, Calif.