Billabong Americas President Ed Leasure will retire at the end of January, Billabong announced this afternoon.
Ed has worked with Billabong since 2008 when the company acquired his chain of Quiet Flight stores.
When he sold the stores to Billabong he only expected to stay on for three years, but enjoyed it so much, he continued on even through the dark days of the leadership and investor challenges.
People thought he was crazy for staying during some of those trying times, but he said he was too close to the brand for too long to abandon ship.
Now that Billabong has a stable leadership team and a strong bench in the Americas group, he knows the business is in good hands, he told SES in an interview today. He helped build that bench, including bringing in Billabong Women’s Global GM Susan Branch, Global VP of M&D Mark Weber, and VP of Sales Jason Shelton.
“It’s never been about the money,” said Ed, who could have retired when he sold Quiet Flight. “I like the challenge, and it’s been really fun. It’s an amazing group of people. But I just turned 60, and I don’t want to work 12-hour days anymore. I figure while I still have my health, I should go around the world and surf.”
Neil reminisced that when he first arrived, he and Ed were working with a skeleton staff because so many people had left during those uncertain times a few years ago. Neil and Ed’s schedules were so jammed, they ate Cliff Bars for two meals a day because they couldn’t break away to get food.
“Ed’s done a terrific job, and I can’t think him enough for all he has done,” Neil said. “Plus, he’s fun as hell to work with. He’s revered within the industry as well as in here for good reason.”
Neil said Ed is also smart and practical and known for bringing a sense of perspective to the table.
“We sell short pants and T-shirts,” Ed said. “It’s not rocket science.”
Working in the industry is all he’s ever done – he started out fixing dings in boards, and then opened a board factory, then a chain of retail stores in Florida beginning in 1979.
Ed also broke new ground in the industry when he opened Billabong and Element stores via a licensing agreement in Times Square in New York, proving that industry stores could work in high profile locations. He still owned the Quiet Flight chain and did not work for Billabong at that time.
“I’ve never had a resume or a job interview,” he said.
Ed is not exactly the laid back type, and has a lot of energy. I told him I have a hard time picturing him retired.
“I hope I don’t turn into one of those retired people who goes to the post office and drug store everyday,” he joked. “I’ll take a year to play around and see if I can adjust.”
And, he will continue to consult with Billabong.
“I’m at the point of my life when where I don’t want to be out of it all the way, but I don’t want to be in the deep end either,” he said.
Just like Kobe, Ed will have a goodbye tour that includes a last round of trade shows, with his official retirement scheduled for the end of January.
Neil said he and Ed have been planning for his retirement for a while, and have a succession plan in place.
“Let’s just say I never envisioned being 65 or 70 and doing this,” Ed said.
In light of Ed’s departure, the Billabong Americas operations has been reorganized.
- Brand Billabong President Shannan North will now also head up the Americas retail operations. Shannan has been based in the U.S. for the last two years, having previously headed the Group’s Asia-Pacific operations, including its large retail footprint there.
- Responsibility for wholesale sales operations in North America will reside under their respective brand leaders (Billabong, Element, RVCA, Von Zipper, Sector 9, Xcel).
- Jeremy Hale, Vice-President of International Development, will take responsibility for emerging markets and overseeing the U.S.-based emerging brands.
