Dunlaps and Gavin on changes at Podium

Brian, Kevin and Mike Dunlap and Tim Gavin give us an update on all the changes at Podium Distribution, including the addition of Paul Gomez as CEO.

Podium has the Matix, DVS and Diamond Footwear brands under its umbrella.

Tell us what is happening with Podium. It seems that the economic downturn was particularly hard on the company?

We have been through a restructuring process over the last year that was tough, but has led us to a much better place. This process forced us to dig deep and really identify our greatest strengths and weaknesses. We have added some new pieces to our management team and can’t be more excited about the future.

DVS and Matix are very well positioned to do something special and we are implementing a game plan to do just that. We have also added the Diamond Footwear line which has tons of potential and opens up a new channel of distribution for us.

What happened with Lakai?

We sold our shares to Girl. Lakai is a great brand and we had a great run with it for the last 12 years. There came a time were we simply felt it was best to focus all our resources on our other brands. We wish all the folks at Lakai the best of luck in the future.

There are rumors that Podium has cut its surf program. Is this true? Are there changes to the surf program?

Absolutely not. Everyone seems to be telling the same story in surf and we are just going to take a step back and look at it through a different lens. We have some incredible riders and we just need to position them in a way that the brands, retailers, and athletes all succeed. We want to bring a fun and fresh new perspective with a “less is more” approach. We will continue to make tweaks in the future that will benefit us and the retailer in the long run.

See Page 2 for more about Paul Gomez, Diamond Footwear, working with Billabong in Australia, etc.

What is happening with Matix?  How is the junior’s portion of the line doing?

We are very happy where Matix sits in the marketplace. There is a tremendous amount of opportunity for us with this brand. Sell thru has been solid at key retailers and we feel very good about the new product rolling out now. We have continued to do well in key catagories like denim and fleece.

We have also had huge success with our signature products from MJ, Daewon, Mikey and Torey. As with everyone in our industry, Junior’s has been more of a challenge. We have made some internal changes to the Junior’s line to keep it more in sync with our mens line and building product stories that work for our retail distribution.

Why bring in Paul Gomez as CEO? You guys have been the owners and run the company for so long, how do you think you will adapt to have someone else as CEO?

Paul brings a wealth of knowledge to our management team. The challenges we face as a company have changed over the last five years and Paul brings a perspective which will help us excel in this climate.

We have known Paul forever and so adapting is not an issue. Its been really refreshing to bounce ideas off one another and to get his opinion as a person who has worked at the largest company in action sports. Even though we come from a more core level, we see things very similarly. It’s a great match for all of us.

What is happening with Diamond Footwear? What is the plan for that brand – distribution, style, etc.?

We are super excited to work with Nick and Jeron at Diamond. Jeron was one of the first DVS riders and has been waving the Podium flag from the get go. We have been doing collabs with Diamond for years and the license agreement with them was just a natural fit.

The Diamond brand is on fire and we hope to feed off that momentum with the shoes. Nick is extremely involved with the design and look of the program which is totally different from what you see with the DVS line. The plan is to stay true to what Diamond is and build quality footwear that fits the Diamond philosophy.

As far as distribution, there is cross-over with some of our skate and boardsport retailers, however there is a huge amount of biz within the urban and street market accounts. The initial response to the line far out weighed our expectations and we are very excited about it as a whole. We have a ton of unique collabs with popular artists we can’t wait to drop.

Diamond product is set to start shipping this August so keep an eye out for it!

How is the distribution agreement with Billabong working out in Australia? Is that something you see expanding to other regions?

The Billabong agreement is in its infant stages as we are just getting product to market. We are working out the kinks with their management team and looking at the best possible way to expose DVS and Matix to the Australian and New Zealand market.

It’s definitely a different environment down there with a majority of the retailers being owed by BONG, Rip Curl etc. We are all very excited about the partnership and the huge potential we have in these regions. As for expanding into other regions for now we are going to focus on making sure we are hitting on all cylinders first.