The tradeshows continued yesterday in Las Vegas, and the show floor at MAGIC seemed much busier on Tuesday.
There was a diverse crowd over the last two days. I saw buyers from Japan, Canada, Latin America and the Midwest including major buyers from stores like Macy’s and the Forzani Group in Canada.
“We have had a lot of new retailers come by, but our biggest concentration seems to have come from buyers in the Midwest,” said Ryan Mangan of Hurley.
Brands approached MAGIC in different ways. Most brands had one booth, but booths varied in shapes and sizes from Paul Frank’s bus that served as a showroom to Tapout’s multi-room structure.
Brands like O’Neill, Quiksilver and Fyasko had more basic booths with tables and the line behind them.
Besides varied booth sizes, certain brands showed in multiple places in Vegas this week.
Hurley showcased mostly its boardshorts line upstairs at S.L.A.T.E., but also had a room at another hotel in Vegas adjacent to where Nike was showcasing various lines.
Quiksilver had a big presence at MAGIC with different parts of the brand and categories at different parts of the show.
Quiksilver EVP Tom Holbrook said the brand was showing swimwear at the swim show, Quiksilver’s main young men’s and skateboarding collections upstairs at S.L.A.T.E. and Quiksilver’s Women’s line and Roxy in an entirely different area of the show as well.
“I really like this show because we sell to Vegas accounts anyway, and when you walk in the door, you can feel the buzz from each show,” Tom said.
Quiksilver owned DC Shoes also had multiple booths scattered throughout Mandalay Bay.
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For DC Shoes, this year was the first time they showed skate at S.L.A.T.E. I talked to their sales reps who said most of their prebooking was done, but they did meet some new accounts and got to write a few at-once orders.
Besides its skate line, DC showcased NVRBRKN and select higher-end items from DC Shoes’ main line at adjacent booths at the Project show downstairs.
“This was the first year we showcased our core skate line at S.L.A.T.E., and since the folks at MAGIC invited us, we felt like it was a good opportunity,” said Adam Quick, Director of Sales for DC Shoes.
Adam said that while most of their pre-books were done and while the brand did a ton of business at Agenda, MAGIC was a good show for them to do some at-once business and also a good place to see a few accounts from different parts of the country they wouldn’t normally be exposed to.
“Overall, I think it was a great show to end our trade show season with and it gave us a chance to follow up with some accounts and tie up loose ends,” he added.
Aside from all the action sports brands attending MAGIC, there were a wide variety of streetwear brands, MMA brands, lifestyle brands, shoe brands, and new lifestyle brands.
The general consensus was that it was a good place to meet not only existing Vegas and resort accounts, but to see accounts from different parts of the country and a few international accounts as well.
For retailers outside of California, having more action sports brands there was also a bonus.
Steve Prindle, who runs a chain of 12 East Coast mall-based shops called Shenk & Tittle, said since ASR has disappeared, he really liked the Agenda show, and also brought his whole buying team to this year’s MAGIC because he knew the action sports brands were there.
While people like Prindle were exited about having more action sports brands, one common theme I heard from brands and retailers was that because MAGIC was so massive and since there were so many shows inside, it was hard to find certain brands, and some brands weren’t sure which show was the best fit.
Skullcandy showcased its line with a custom booth at S.L.A.T.E., though would have also fit in well at Project.
“We came to MAGIC to be exposed to more of the NYC, music and boutique demographic, and S.L.A.T.E. feels like a mini ASR,” said Luke Edgar, Skullcandy VP of Specialty Sales on the first day of the trade show.
“We have had a great day so far, but since we are already known in action sports, we want to reconsider maybe going to Project next year,” he added.
