Hottest brands for spring from Baird report

Stock analyst Mitch Kummetz released his Boardsport Report for the first quarter which shows the spring selling season was better than holiday but not as strong as spring last year.

The report surveys 102 independent surf, skate and snow retailers in 27 states. The report is widely-read globally and respected. One top surf executive asked me, however, to emphasize that readers should keep in mind that the report surveys a small fraction of the overall number of board sports stores in the U.S.

Here are some interesting details from the survey. The words are directly from the report. To obtain a complete copy, email Mitch at mkummez@rwbaird.com

Spring Product Category Performance

Strong categories: Hardgoods, accessories and men’s apparel.

Weak categories: Women’s shoes and women’s apparel. Men’s shoes were also weak.

Hottest Men’s Apparel Brands

• Volcom – hottest in skate shops and boardriding stores and across all geographic regions

• Billabong – hottest in surf shops

• KR3W

• Quiksilver

• Matix

Biggest move up from holiday to spring: Reef

Biggest move up from spring 2007 to spring 2008: O’Neill and Hurley.

Biggest slip down from holiday to spring: DC

Biggest slip down from spring 2007 to spring 2008: KR3W

Hottest Women’s Apparel Brands

Volcom – hottest among all channels and on the West and East coasts.

Billabong

Matix

Lost

Roxy

Biggest move up from holiday to spring : Element. Element was also the hottest in the Central region.

Biggest move up from spring 2007 to spring 2008: Matix

Biggest slip down from holiday to spring: no brand moved down dramatically.

Biggest slip down from spring 2007 to spring 2008: Element

Hottest Footwear Brands

Nike – hottest among skate shops and boardridingstores, and also across all regions

Reef – hottest among surf shops.

Vans

Emerica

DVS

Biggest move up from holiday to spring: Reef

Biggest move up from spring 2007 to spring 2008: DC

Biggest slip down from holiday to spring: IPath

Biggest slip down from spring 2007 to spring 2008: éS

Hottest Sunglass Brands

Spy – hottest among surf shops, boardriding stores and West Coast retailers

Electric

Oakley – hottest among East Coast and Central region retailers

VonZipper – hottest among skate shops.

Hoven

Biggest move up from holiday to spring: Oakley

Biggest move up spring 2007 to spring 2008: Oakley

Biggest slip down from holiday to spring: Arnette

Biggest slip down from spring 2007 to spring 2008: No brand slipped much.

Trends

• There doesn’t seem to be many positive trends, though a few retailers highlighted t-shirts and boardshorts as performing well for spring.

• The boardshort category seems to be driven by bright colors and exciting prints.

• A few retailers also noted that walk shorts have been a poor performing category. Plaids seem to be dominant and this trend may be getting a little stale.