California Apparel News

Buyer and exhibitor attendance increased at Action Sports Retailer Fall, held March 11–12 at the Hyatt Regency Resort & Spa in Huntington Beach, Calif., despite the appearance of a sluggish start.

This is the second run for ASR Fall. Even though traffic appeared slow, organizers said preregistration figures showed 900 buyers registered, nearly double the buyer attendance of last year’s event, according to group show director Kevin Flanagan.

This year, the number of exhibitors increased by 10 percent to 114 action-sports apparel companies—including Quiksilver, Billabong, 26 Red Sugar, Dark Star, Ezekiel Clothing, Lucy Love, Local Motion, Water Girl and Triple 5 Soul—that occupied roughly 8,000 square feet of exhibitor space.

Only a few exhibitors said they were concerned about buyer caution resulting from political anxieties. Instead, many reported that buyers placed immediate orders to replenish Spring inventories.

“[Buyers] are here to take care of the basics,” explained Quiksilver executive vice president of sales Tom Holdbrook, whose company reported a 14.6 percent sales growth to $705.5 million last year. “Hopefully, they will keep a little cash in their back pockets until the economy picks up again. Buyers like the product they see. They just want to make sure they’re covered. This industry has been around long enough, especially the core specialty retailers, to know how to power through the hard times.”

Several exhibitors said they spread out their appointments to keep a steady flow of traffic at their booths. Between buyer visits, exhibitors and vendors had a chance to hobnob and discuss the latest trends in the market.

Pacific Sunwear buyer Tracey Hagemann was among the buyers who studied Hurley International’s offerings. Judging by the number of buyers who swarmed around the booth, it seemed doubtful that the company would have a challenging year at retail.

“We’re optimistic because [our company has noticed] a lot of consumer confidence this year,” said Dennis Quinn, sales director for Hurley International. “Shoppers will be out there buying plenty of shirts, boardshorts and shoes once the sun comes out for good.”

The show drew buyers from specialty retailers on the West Coast, such as Chino, Calif.- based Active Ride and Hermosa Beach, Calif.-based Becker Surfboards, as well as some buyers in from Midwest companies, such as Salt Lake City-based JMR Chalk Garden.

Retail store owner Leslie Thomas came to the show to stock her Ventura, Calif.-based boutique, Tiki Punch, which will open April 15.

“People tell me right now is not a good time, economically, to start a business, but I’ve decided to buy and have faith that we’re all going to do okay,” she said.

Thomas said there aren’t a lot of specialty stores that cater to beach lifestyles in Ventura. “I think the store will do well,” she said. “I just have to make sure I get my costing down.”

Thomas said she was interested in swim lines by L*Space, Salinas, Rip Curl and Point Conception.

Nordstrom buyer Melissa Leal said she came to the show to gauge the direction of trends for the Back-to-School season, which typically begins as early as July.

Trend-wise, many exhibitors reported positive feedback on their latest offerings.

Rusty sales rep Barbara Carmody said juniors buyers were placing orders for floral drawstring skirts ($23), cargo-style peddle pushers ($27) and denim culottes ($24). The Irvine, Calif.-based surf company recently added deconstructed T-shirts to its collection. Rusty booked about 18 appointments for the show, mostly West Coast accounts, said Carmody.

Santa Ana, Calif.-based Split offered a cross between actionsports and contemporary looks for men. The company recently added screen-printed polos, long-sleeved woven shirts and Western-style silhouettes in solids and plaids—as well as new stylings for denim, twill and corduroy pants—to the line.

So far, Split’s orders for Fall are 50 percent higher than the same time last year, said the company.

“If sales are still trending through Spring, we will be well above our goal for Back-to- School season,” said Joe Seemayer, young men’s sales director. Split saw a 35 percent growth in its specialty-store account base last year, he added.

SG Surf, Skate and Snow magazine hosted a fashion show, featuring key looks in the surf, snow and skate categories.

Next Stop: France

Laguna Beach, Calif.-based Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo announced plans to take its apparel show to Europe. The new show, set for July 6–8, will be held in Anglet, France, the surf capital of Europe.

So far, according to the trade-show group’s estimates, there are roughly 175 companies that are planning to attend, including Quiksilver, Billabong and Rip Curl. More than half of the show’s exhibitor space has already been reserved, said Kevin Flanagan, group show director of ASR.

Flanagan said the show is going to be “an authentic representation of the surf industry.”

“This will be the first action-sports trade show that will cater to southern European retailers,” he said.

Once the trade show establishes a foothold in the European market, it will explore other markets such as South America and Asia, Flanagan said.