I reached Von Zipper co-founder Greg “GT” Tomlinson today in New York to ask him for his reaction to the Billabong/Altamont news.
Billabong acquired the Von Zipper brand in 2001.
What is it like to finally have some resolution?
GT: I am super excited at the simplest, most base level about that – it’s a ‘Thank God this whole process is behind us’ feeling.
We’ve been living under the realm of uncertainty for so long. At least we can put it behind us and get on with normal business, and that’s the most exciting aspect of the news today. I’m relieved for all Billabong employees, all the brands. We can now focus on what we do best.
What’s your reaction to Altamont and its new role?
GT: I met with them a few times during the due diligence process. It’s kind of like we’ve been on a few dates, the first couple of dates were pretty good, and now we are going out. We’re at first base right now, and I can’t wait to get to second base.
What about Scott Olivet becoming the new Billabong CEO?
GT: We first met with Scott and his team four or five months ago, and then we met with them recently, and I was thoroughly impressed with their questions. It was beyond the numbers – they asked quality questions about the brand and what it stands for, who our customer is. They seemed highly qualified and intuitively seemed to get what we do.
Having Scott as CEO is also very exciting for Von Zipper because he was the Oakley head honcho, and he was successful there. For us, to have an eyewear guy as CEO could be a big benefit to VZ based on his experience.
How are you feeling about what’s next?
GT: As much as we finished one cloud of uncertainty, now we enter a new phase – what does this change mean for brands, how involved or uninvolved will (Altamont) be?
I can tell you through this whole period VZ has been pretty removed from it all. We’ve been in our little corner of the building, laughing and high fiving. We never go caught up in, ‘Oh my God are the lights going to be on?’
Our business is on a roll right now. We believe that Von Zipper has a place in the market, our business is growing, and with Altamont we think there is huge opportunity to expand on an already expanding business.
What’s been the reaction from the Von Zipper team?
GT: I started getting emails and calls from them at 5 a.m. this morning, and I can say they are relieved, and excited to move ahead.
This whole process has been such a bummer – I don’t think anybody could have written a worse story, not even our biggest haters.
I think I can speak for all of the brands when I say we all got into this because we believe in the model and the theory behind what we are doing, and we think we are doing great things.
We didn’t get into it for all this corporate, lawyer stuff.
We are all about building relationships with retailers, and nurturing the aspirational lifestyle that makes this industry special. Getting back to the lifestyle component of what we do will be great.
