California Apparel News

After a sluggish holiday season, surf, skate and streetwear retailers converged on San Diego for the concurrent Jan. 24–26 runs of the Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo and the Agenda show. Typically smaller than both shows’ September editions, Agenda and ASR seemed a bit subdued, despite the requisite shenanigans from the action-sports brands.

With 18,000 attendees and 500 exhibitors at the San Diego Convention Center, this season’s ASR was on par with its last January show.

“The mood on the show floor was cautiously optimistic,” said Andy Tompkins, ASR’s manager. “Some companies felt it was a strong show; others were very concerned that retailers were being much more cautious with their spending,” said Tompkins, adding that with less of a party atmosphere, “Most people were trying to get down to business.”

Marie Case of Board Trac, an action-sports market-research firm that hosted several panels during the show, agreed. “Everyone seemed to be working really hard,” she said. “Brands didn’t show up with high expectations, but they wanted to make the show worth their while. There wasn’t as much entertainment.”

That’s quite a departure from ASR’s September 2007 edition, where both retailers and exhibitors reported a strong Summer season and plenty of good vibes.

“It’s a tough economy, and there is not a clear end in sight, so it is all about having the right item at the right price point,” said Tom Krecker, a sales manager for the Gotcha and Redsand brands. “Right now, the industry is being driven by T-shirts and by newness. Fleece and thermals drove the third quarter.”

Nicole Meyers, the women’s buyer for the Ron Jon chain of stores, said the retailer came out of the holiday season in good shape but was being cautious with its Summer and Fall buys. “When things get this tough, you hunker down and stick with the brands that you know will make you easy money,” she said. “When it is slow, it is not a time to be taking risks.” T-shirts have emerged as a dominant trend for Ron Jon, Meyers said. “It could be a ’cash in pocket’ issue— they are a lot easier on the customer’s wallet—but also I think it is a cyclical trend, and it is back.”

At Lost Girls, T-shirts were also a key buy for retailers. “They are on fire, and our denim is picking up, too,” said Lindsay Henkels, the juniors national sales manager. Dresses with retail prices under $40 and tops perfect for layering proved to be must-haves, as well. Skirts, a favorite of seasons past, earned few buys.

One sobering development at the show was Pacific Sunwear’s announcement that it will stop retailing sneakers. Executives at the publicly traded core retailer couldn’t be reached for comment, but a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed the news that for fiscal 2008, the retailer will sell only sandals and slippers. The filing estimated that its pared-down footwear business will account for 6 percent to 8 percent of its total merchandise sales.

“It’s been a tough category for them,” said Krista Poehler, the girls’ brand manager at Osiris, one of PacSun’s top five shoe brands. “We’d had high hopes for the category. For Back-to-School, we were going to be their third brand,” she said. “It would have doubled our business.”

An executive for another action-sports shoe and apparel brand said PacSun’s executives promised to focus money freed up by shoes to invest in private label and the wholesale business. “While we’re sad to lose the footwear business, we’re hopeful that it will open up new business for us—especially the juniors category, which looks like it might be a growing focus,” said the executive, who declined to be named.

Tompkins, who estimated PacSun accounts for 5 percent of exhibitor Sole Tech’s business, said an influx of competition from other mallbased retailers ate away at PacSun’s market share. “Now you’ve got retailers like Champs, Finish Line and Foot Locker coming to ASR and picking up these shoes,” he said. “It is always a concern when a major retailer makes such a fundamental change in their retail strategy.”

Jeffrey Van Sinderen, a senior analyst at B. Riley & Co. who follows Pacific Sunwear, said the footwear business has been extremely tough across the board with few exceptions during the last year. “Pacific Sunwear can make more money and be more effective selling apparel,” Van Sinderen said, and that’s good news for the whole industry.

Agenda Celebrates 10th Edition in San Diego

The Agenda trade show marked its 10th edition in San Diego. Held at the San Diego Concourse, the biannual show welcomed more than 100 streetwear and action sports–related brands.

Aaron Levant, the show’s founder, said he was nervous going into the show because of the state of the retail environment and decided to keep Agenda’s focus strong and narrow.

“We didn’t open up the second floor this time,” he said. “There just weren’t enough good brands to fill it. So we scaled back and made sure every brand on the floor pulled its weight. It is more focused, less riff-raff.”

Final attendance figures weren’t in, but Levant said buyer attendance slipped a bit. In part, that had to do with what Levant calls the “streetwear explosion.” “Streetwear stores popped up really quickly, and a lot of them disappeared just as fast,” he said. Still, key buyers from stores such as The Buckle, Up Against the Wall, Metro Park, Macy’s, Nordstrom and Tillys shopped the show and wrote orders. “Those who push units came to the show,” he said.

Luis Pulido, founder of Los Angeles– based Grn Apple Tree, said buyers at the show responded well to the brand’s new look but were generally cautious and priceconscious. “They’re looking for Immediates, and they’re being very careful. Last year at this time, I could easily sell a $20 T-shirt. Now they want T-shirts to be in the $13 range,” he said. Still, he said, newness and innovation are prized. “They are tired of the same old, same old; it’s not selling anymore. There’s going to be a shake-up [of the surf, skate and streetwear brands].”

SIVA, a new brand from Los Angeles, came to Agenda to introduce its art-driven line of T-shirts, hoodies and thermals. With wholesale price points of $15 for T-shirts to $35 for sweat shirts, the line focused on quality product with a competitive price point.

A few women’s lines stood out from the mostly male-dominated crowd. Nikita reported doing good business with its quirky denim, knits and jackets. B.B. Dakota, a juniors/young contemporary line, returned to the show with a bigger, prominent booth selling vintage-inspired dresses and tailored separates. Hellz Bellz showed pretty toughgirl styles in pop-art colors.

Missing ASR Exhibitor Found Dead

Dane Williams, a 23-year-old marketing staffer for Costa Mesa, Calif.–based Hurley, was found dead on Jan. 29 in San Diego, four days after going missing from a party in the early morning hours of Jan. 26. Williams, who had been with the company for three months, was last seen leaving a party at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego’s Gaslamp neighborhood.

Hurley employees, friends, family and San Diego police searched for Williams, who never returned to his hotel room after the party. Details of his death have not been released, but his body was reported to have been found wrapped in a blanket in an alley in the City Heights area of San Diego, several miles from where he was last seen. At press time, Williams’ cause of death was unknown, though the San Diego Police Department had deemed it “suspicious.” The results of an autopsy were inconclusive. Toxicology results are expected in several weeks.

Hurley released this statement regarding the death: “Everyone at Hurley is deeply saddened over the tragic news regarding Dane Williams, who had been working with us on a temporary basis since October. Our sympathies and support are first and foremost with Dane’s family, and with everyone at Hurley who is dealing with this loss. Many of us at Hurley had helped in the search for Dane over the weekend, and no one was prepared for this shocking outcome. We will support the investigation in any way we can, and we encourage anyone who has information to please come forward and contact the San Diego Police Department. In memory of Dane, we hope the circumstances surrounding his death are quickly resolved.”