Surf Expo got underway Wednesday in Orlando, and despite the challenges of the pandemic, we saw a good level of traffic in the aisles and in booths and important industry retailers in attendance.
New and upcoming brands turned up in force including Salty Crew, Vissla, Bajio, Florence Marine X, The Board Factory, Jetty, Katin, Ambsn, Howler Brothers, Rumpl, Cotapaxi, IPD, Outerknown, Dickies and more. We saw retailers such as Farias Surf & Sport, Heritage Surf Shop and Ocean Hut in New Jersey, HIC and Hi-Tech from Hawaii, and Cinnamon Rainbows and Warm Winds in the Northeast, and Sun Diego in Southern California. Buyers from The Buckle are expected to arrive today.
However, the larger surf brands did not come including most Boardriders brands, O’Neill, Rip Curl and Hurley.
The day ended with an induction ceremony for the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame, and world champion surfer Kelly Slater was in the house for the event.
Here are some photos from the show floor.
Don Dyer of I-Sea with Birgit Coles of Simbi
Joe Hodnicki, Dustin Henry, Matt Sablowski, and Cory HIggins of Jetty
East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame honoree CJ Hobgood, ECSHOF President Emeritus Cecil Lear, world champion surfer Kelly Slater, and honoree Matt Walker
Dustin Odbert and Dylan Odbert of Ambsn
Todd Janda and Shane Wallace of Dakine
Brian Heritage, Kevin Morris, and Andrew Traa of Heritage Surf Shop
Garrett Turk, Mike Persing, Bobby Boyd, and Matt Bagley of Dickies
Meris Chaney, Beth Roberts, and Chase Heard of Howler Brothers
Eric Carlson of Otis and Sito
ECSHOF honorees with the night’s host Hunter Joslin
Patrick Whinnery and Dave Nash of Sun Diego
Von Zipper crew
Nick Meistrell and Peter Maule of Body Glove
Ian Soto and Ryan Mangan of Florence Marine X
Anna Farrey, Denise Brouwer, and Jenna Duffy of Carve Designs
Steven Fisher of Surf Expo with Biggie and April Vaughn of Whalebone Surf Shop
BN3TH crew with Matt Keenan, left
Rusty Surfboard's crew
Joseph Falcone and Andrew Tonra of Dr Falcone's Ding Zap
Nick Girlando and Jose Guillen of G Shock
PT Townend and Glenn Brumage
Amber Rich and Amanda Finkelstein of Elastic
Eddie Doyle and Chad Crites of Otis and Sito
Jada Clairborne and Christina Freberg of Lotus and Luna
Natasha Viera and Biance Nash of Baja Llama
Daniel Genco and Gregg Shaw of Shwood Eyewear
John McDaniel of Katin with Brian Kirk of Ballast
Chris Decerbo and Chris Summa of Tahe Outdoors
Reggie Pooley of Sanuk with Nick Rhinemart of Psycho Tuna
