Updated: Liberated Begins Liquidating Billabong, Quiksilver, Volcom, Honolua Stores

The company is working with retail liquidation experts Gordon Brothers on the process, SESO has learned.
Published: January 30, 2025

Editor’s note: Updated with details about e-commerce liquidation plans according to sales reps emails to specialty accounts. 

Liberated Brands is beginning liquidation sales at its U.S.-based retail fleet, including many Volcom, Quiksilver, Billabong, Honolua and RVCA stores.

The company is working with retail liquidation experts Gordon Brothers on the process, SESO has learned.

Liberated operates more than 100 stores in the region after adding former Boardriders-owned stores to its existing Volcom store fleet.

Authentic Brands Group, the owner of Volcom, RVCA, Quiksilver, Billabong, DC Shoes, Spyder, and myriad other brands, has pulled wholesale licenses previously held by Liberated Brands and given them to new operators.

So far, Authentic has not found new licensees for the retail stores and financially distressed Liberated is liquidating inventory to help generate cash.

Billabong Laguna Beach

Signs near the cashwrap in Laguna Beach store. Photo by SESO.

According to people we have talked to in the retail division, store leaders have been told stores could close by the end of April. However, Liberated declined to confirm that timeline, with a spokesman telling SESO they are still working through the process.

(Update: Liberated said in statement on 2/3/25 that all of its stores will close except nine stores in Hawaii. Those stores are in flux as negotiations take place about their future.)

Liberated said stores outside of the U.S. are not impacted by the liquidation actions.

At the Billabong store in Laguna Beach on Thursday, yellow signs dotted the store, with discounts ranging from 20% to 30% and other signs saying, “All Sales Final – No Returns.” The level of discounting is expected to increase as the liquidation sales progress.

SESO has also seen emails sent by Liberated sales reps to specialty accounts saying the brands would move to 60% off on its e-commerce sites starting Feb. 1.

Discounting Fatigue

For other brands and retailers in the surf space, the store liquidation sales are another challenge to overcome after experiencing years of extreme discounting toward the end of Oaktree Capital’s ownership of Boardriders and during the transition to Authentic.

Liberated had also previously been discounting heavily as it looked to move excess inventory due to challenging marketplace conditions in the past year.

“It impacts all of the clothing business in the surf market – the brands and the retailers,” said Bobby Abdel, a partner at the industry’s biggest account, Jack’s Surfboards. “Customers look at everything, and they’ve been 40, 50, 60 percent off. We have to pay rent and pay our employees – we can’t match sales like that. But who are we going to complain to (at Liberated)? Everyone is gone.”

Sales ranged from 20% to 30% off Thursday in the Laguna Beach Billabong store. Photo by SESO.

Many of the key salespeople at Liberated have left to join the new wholesale licensees for the brands, and the new licensees have no say in Liberated’s DTC discounting strategy.

The retail liquidation is the latest development in the story of Liberated, which previously held the license for Volcom and Spyder in partnership with Authentic. After Authentic acquired the Boardriders brands in September 2023 for $1.2 billion, Liberated took on a lot more, including:

  • The U.S. and Canada wholesale license for Billabong, RVCA, and Honolua brands in the adult sportswear, activewear, swim, outerwear, headwear, and base layer categories.
  • Retail and e-commerce in the U.S. and Canada for Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, RVCA, Honolua, and Boardriders.
  • Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, RVCA, DC Shoes, Element, VonZipper, Honolua, and more across Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and Indonesia, including wholesale and more than 200 retail locations and e-commerce.
  • Wetsuits for Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, and RVCA in North America.

In December of 2024, Authentic confirmed it was pulling all licenses from Liberated because Authentic believed Liberated did not have the resources to invest in and grow the brands.

“At Authentic, we understand and respect the responsibility that comes with owning legacy brands and are committed to making thoughtful decisions that ensure their long-term success,” David Brooks, Authentic EVP action and outdoor sports, said at the time.

As a result of the licenses being pulled, Liberated laid off a total of 363 people with the job cuts effective Jan. 8, according to California state records.

While some portion of employees are being hired by the new licensees, not all are, unfortunately, and those people are currently looking for jobs.

Liberated Brands Releases Statement on Bankruptcy Filing

Tiffany Montgomery can be reached at tiffany@shop-eat-surf-outdoor.com.

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