The Liberated Brands bankruptcy and liquidation of Billabong, Quiksilver, and Volcom stores has generated headlines around the world and broken through to mainstream consumers, but the complexity of the situation means they’re not always receiving accurate information.
And shops that carry the brands, independent store owners that operate licensed locations, and new wholesale licensees are paying the price.
“We started a sale on all the Liberated brands last week to try and compete with the massive promotions they’re offering – and just about every person that came into our stores to shop those brands was under the impression that they were all going out of business for good,” said Richard O’Reilly, co-owner of Spyder Surf in Hermosa Beach, California. “It’s easy for us to understand why. The headlines about the bankruptcy and the closing of the retail stores for these companies in all the major news sources I saw made it seem like this was the end.”
Shoppers are coming into surf shops and saying things like, “I hear Quiksilver is going bankrupt,” which is not true. Some top industry executives who work at the brands are being asked by relatives if they’re out of a job, and licensed Billabong stores that aren’t closing are receiving hundreds of calls from customers asking about redeeming gift cards and matching discounts.
That’s thanks to the stunning number of news outlets, including online, print, radio, and television, many of which don’t usually pay attention to the surf industry, picking up the story about the bankruptcy. The biggest hook that is making the news travel is the more than 120 store closures of such well-known brand names in surf and skate.
Mainstream Media Descends
Some sample (not always accurate) headlines include:
Fortune – “So long, Billabong. Virtually all Quiksilver, Billabong, and Volcom Stores are Shutting Down.”
Daily Mail – ”Iconic ’90s Surf Brands Closing 120 Stores as They Are Wiped Out By Bankruptcy.”
NY Post – “Quiksilver, Billabong and Volcom U.S. Stores to Close After Operator Liberated Brands Files for Bankruptcy”
CBS News Los Angeles – “Quicksilver, Billabong and Volcom Stores Closing After Bankruptcy Filing.” (Yes, Quiksilver was spelled incorrectly).
LA Times – “All Quiksilver, Billabong, and Volcom Stores to Close Amid Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.” The featured photo that accompanied the story was an exterior shot of Jack’s Surf Shop in Huntington Beach, California. Jack’s, arguably the most influential surf shop in the world, is independently owned and most definitely not closing.
“It could be the end of an era for surf and skate-inspired clothing brands like Billabong, Quiksilver, Volcom and more,” said the anchor of TV station Khon2 in Hawaii, a key market for the surf industry, inaccurately implying that the brands themselves are shutting down. “They are all expected to close their stores in the next coming month or two.”
What followed was an on-the-scene report with footage of Volcom stores in Hawaii covered with closeout signs.
Fallout for Wholesale Accounts and Franchise Stores
Liberated’s business model is complex. The company held the wholesale license to Volcom, Billabong, and RVCA in the U.S., and the retail and ecommerce license for Volcom and all the former Boardriders brands, including Quiksilver.
While many of the stores are closing, the brands are not. Authentic Brands Group, which owns the brands themselves, has signed new licensees who have hired a large number of former Liberated employees to operate Volcom, Billabong, and RVCA wholesale. And brands such as Quiksilver and Roxy continue to have the same wholesale licensing partners they have had since the brands sold to Authentic in 2023.
At WRV in Virginia Beach, customers have been asking if WRV is also going to be clearing out the brands and/or matching the 60% off liquidation discounts that Billabong, Quiksilver, and Volcom are offering online.
“Right now, we have some product on the floor that we paid more to buy at wholesale from the brands than the customer is paying online,” owner LG Shaw said.
RVCA President Mark Tinkess emphasized that new wholesale licensee Ethos Brands is investing heavily in the brands going forward, and said RVCA is not going anywhere.
“RVCA remains a strong and iconic brand with a bright future,” RVCA President Mark Tinkess told SESO. “Ethos Brands is fully invested in RVCA, and our talented team is focused on driving the brand forward with creativity and authenticity. We remain committed. We are spending millions on staff, new offices, athletes, new product, and retail programs. We’re here to stay, dedicated to our community, and excited for what’s ahead. RVCA is in much better hands now.”
Brands Make Social Media Push to Set Record Straight
The new wholesale licensing partners and Authentic are trying to get back on the front foot. Volcom, Billabong, RVCA, Roxy, and Quiksilver all posted on social media Wednesday morning about the recent news, reassuring fans that the brands are still in business.
From a Volcom post on Instagram Wednesday morning. Image courtesy of Volcom.
Volcom posted this on Instagram:
“Alive We Ride…You may have seen some news this week, but Volcom isn’t going anywhere. Built on freedom, creativity, and embracing the strange — Volcom is still here, still strong, and still True to This. Find us at your local surf, skate or snowboard shop, or wherever you drop in. Stay tuned and keep the stoke alive.”
“The obvious goal is to let people know the Volcom brand is here to stay,” Brent Lantz, the general manager of Volcom for new wholesale licensee The Levy Group, told SESO. “We’ve got to remember that while painful and understandably confusing for some people, including consumers, the disruption and optics due to the current transition and confusing media stories will end soon. We will continue to communicate, but it’s really about the hard work we continue to do in a short amount of time that will let our actions speak in the long term.
“Moving forward, Levy elected not to operate branded retail stores for Volcom, which in the long run should only help our partners” Lantz added. “Without that distraction, we will be able to hyper-fixate on driving demand, market share and investment back to the retailers who have helped build the Volcom brand. As the current stores close, we are intent upon making sure the consumer knows where they can find Volcom in those areas. We will also begin to operate the Volcom e-commerce channel, in partnership with Authentic, as early as the first two weeks of March 2025, with a focus on brand and a non-promotional experience.”
Television Station Reports on Mesanko Family Billabong Store
Retailers that own and operate independent Billabong stores have also been negatively impacted by the bankruptcy and store closure news – especially the Billabong store in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, owned by Greg “Grog” Mesanko.
The local news station aired a story saying that all Billabong, Volcom, and Quiksilver stores were closing.
Luckily, the family reached out early to the station, and it sent a crew down to the store to do a follow up, emphasizing the store is still open and is family owned.
Still, the shop was inundated with calls about gift card redemption, requests for price matching the liquidation discounts on the brands’ ecommerce sites, and more.
“I’m not talking about five or 10 calls – we heard from hundreds of customers,” Mesanko said.
“Today was a nightmare,” Mesanko’s son, Luke, told SESO on Friday. “We intervened to do damage control, and they re-ran the story in our favor, but it was a heavy, heavy day for us. Franchise (stores) are feeling the pressure.”
Possible Name Change in the Future – From Billabong to Grog’s
Greg Mesanko, a New Jersey surf legend, said this latest store closure development and how it was handled means he is seriously considering changing the name of his main store to “Grog’s” going forward.
Mesanko ran a large, well-known surf shop in Jersey back in the day called “Grog’s Surf Palace.”
Greg “Grog” Mesanko outside his Billabong store in New Jersey in 2021. SESO file photo.
“I’ve worked with Billabong since 1973, and they’ve been a very good, very profitable company all these years,” Greg Mesanko said. “Seventeen years ago, they gave me permission to open a Billabong store, and it’s been a really good run.”
But there have been serious problems since COVID, he said, from the constant ecommerce discounting to not getting product for extended periods of time when former Billabong owner Boardriders had crippling shipping problems.
More recently in early January at Surf Expo, Mesanko said brand representatives told him he likely wouldn’t be getting 50% of his Spring ’25 orders due to Liberated’s financial difficulties. So he ordered more goods from other brands to make up the difference. Then in the third week of January, a bunch of Billabong spring product he wasn’t expecting showed up, so he has double the inventory he needs.
And then last week, the Billabong ecommerce site started selling goods at 60% off – the same spring goods that he had just received. “Now I look like a fool with my customers,” Mesanko said.
Luckily, Mesanko had already begun diversifying the product mix during COVID because he couldn’t count on Billabong goods being delivered. Although it still says Billabong on the door, about 50% of the inventory is from other brands such as Fair Harbor, Marine Layer, Katin, Rhythm, Vissla, and Dark Seas.
Going forward, he’ll likely use the name “Grog’s” on the main store, and “Billabong” on the smaller attached space.
“I think I need to move on here,” Mesanko told SESO. “I can’t be in a position where they can destroy my business without thinking it through,” he said, referring to how Liberated handled the store closure announcement.
Huntington Surf & Sport to Keep its Billabong Store
Huntington Surf & Sport owner Aaron Pai said his team has heard similar comments about the brands going out of business in both HSS and in the Billabong store it owns and operates in Huntington Beach.
“There seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding the current state of the surf industry, fueled by recent headlines and rapid changes,” Pai said. “While it’s true that the industry is undergoing a significant transformation, we remain focused on supporting the surf brands that have been, and continue to be, our partners. We understand that behind-the-scenes changes, such as brand acquisitions, can impact product availability and shipping, but these details are often not visible to consumers.
“We maintain a positive outlook, regardless of the news cycle, and are committed to the long-term success of the surf industry and to our family owned and family operated HSS,” Aaron Pai said, adding that the new Billabong wholesale licensing team has committed to supporting the HSS operated Billabong store.
Not Just Behind-the-Scenes Issues Any More
The industry and the big brands have hit rough patches before – Quiksilver filed for bankruptcy and restructuring in 2015 but kept a good chunk of its stores open; Billabong went through a liquidity crunch that generated negative business news headlines, particularly in Australia, before being acquired by Oaktree Capital-backed Boardriders in 2018. All the former Boardriders brands were sold to Authentic Brands Group and turned into a licensing model in 2023.
Most wholesale accounts shrugged a lot of that off because the average person walking in the shop door had no idea those business moves were going on.
A key, well-respected industry retailer who asked not to be quoted by name said during that behind-the-scenes industry turmoil, he always made decisions about what brands to carry and how much to stock based on what customers are buying, rather than emotion.
What’s new this time around, he said, is the sales numbers for those brands have been dropping in his stores. This retailer believes that’s because the extreme discounting in the past few years has severely damaged the brands and their desirability in the marketplace.
Robert Stehlik, owner of Blue Planet Surf, leases his Haleiwa store to Volcom. He told Hawaii television station Khon2 that there is an opportunity for new brands to emerge during the station’s report on the store closings.
“I think there are definitely some openings for new brands to take that market share,” he said during the television interview. “Quiksilver, Billabong, RVCA, Volcom, those are all brands that were started by hardcore surfers and now. … the licensing is just going from one corporate entity to another.”
Paul Naude, the president of the Surf Industry Members Association, said the news coverage around the world about the store closures and Liberated bankruptcy has been brutal.
“These headlines around the world are a very bad look for the surf industry and we’ll just have to push through it,” Naude said.
Doug Palladini Weighs In
SESO asked former Vans President Doug Palladini, one of surf industry’s most knowledgeable brand and marketing experts who now works as a consultant, if he thinks the Liberated bankruptcy and 120 public store closures will hurt the brands going forward.
“I’m overwhelmingly sad,” Doug Palladini said. “This is a black day in the history of action sports, and I am not being hyperbolic. The consumer perception was already bad and now it goes to zero, or less than zero.
“Today, for all intents and purposes, the surfing industry only matters to those who participate in the act of surfing,” he added. “Maybe that’s a good thing. Sell some boards, wetsuits, trunks and the occasional T-shirt or hoodie and focus on that for a minute, let the air clear, and allow some new brands to come up. Rebuild our cultural resonance one day at a time.”
Gerry Lopez and former Vans President Doug Palladini, who has been very involved in surf culture and the surf industry during his career, at Pipeline in Hawaii. SESO file photo.
Brand Stores Closures Could Benefit Surf Shops
Vipe Desai, executive director of the Surf Industry Members Association, had a more positive take on the situation, including that the store closures could benefit specialty retailers.
“The recent wave of store closures from major surf brands is undeniably tough news, impacting many dedicated individuals in our industry,” Desai said. “These transitions, while difficult, are part of a necessary realignment that should ultimately lead to a more sustainable and stable business model in the long run.
“The sheer volume of closures also presents an opportunity – one that encourages all brands to reinvest in and strengthen their partnerships with specialty retailers, ensuring more meaningful support for the core surf community,” Desai said.
Authentic’s point person for the brands, David Brooks, executive vice president, action and outdoor sports, lifestyle, said there’s a chance some of the stores may stay open after all.
“It has not been determined that all stores will close,” he said. “In fact, we’re receiving significant interest from both local retailers and major retail operators looking to take on existing locations and even open new ones.
“The reality is that mono-brand DTC stores account for less than 5% of global sales for these brands,” Brooks added. “While we don’t like to see closures, they ultimately create opportunities for our retail partners by directing more traffic and demand to their stores. This moment of uncertainty is just noise – our brands and brand partners will continue to thrive.”
Related Stories:
Liberated Begins Liquidating Billabong, Quiksilver, Volcom, Honolua Stores
Authentic Pulling Billabong, Volcom, RVCA Licenses from Liberated Brands
Liberated CEO Explains Company’s Downward Spiral
Liberated Brands Details Revenues, Royalties, and Executive Salaries in Court Documents
