Leigh Tonai of HIC, and Florence's Joel Centeio, Jeff Hurley, Pat O'Connell, and Bob Hurley. Photo by SESO.
New Sanuk GM Katie Pruitt. Photo by SESO.
New Sanuk sandals. Photo by SESO.
Rob Machado with his boards in the Firewire booth. Photo by SESO.
Dez Price and Matt Keenan of BN3TH. Photo by SES.
Sisstr wetsuits. Photo by SES.
Jesse Westmacott of Farias Surf & Sport in the Rivvia Projects booth. Photo by SESO.
Reef CEO Gregg Ribatt and President Mike Jensen. Photo by SESO.
New Reef VP of Marketing Brianna Showell. Photo by SESO.
Reef has greatly expanded its shoe line. Photo by SESO.
Rhythm's Mark Yamaoka, Saylor Schroff, Nicolette Modhadam, Jacob Byrne, and Josh Barrett. Photo by SESO.
The founders of Sector Nine have bought back the brand, and went with the "Back in the Saddle" Western theme at the show. Photo courtesy of Sector Nine.
Jeff Glik of Glik's, which has 72 stores in the Midwest, Roy Turner of Surf Expo, Elise Becker and Danielle Berry of Glik's. Photo by SESO.
Melin co-founder Brian McDonell, Jeff Tuttle of Melin, Dave Nash of Sun Diego, and Domonique Checkwood of Melin. Photo by SESO.
Duvin's colorful and forward designs are a favorite with sports stars. Photo by SESO.
Garrett Watzka of Duvin, Costa Bourantanis of Maui Nix, and Harry Chodorow and Austin Duvall of Duvin. Photo by SESO.
Josh Hansen of Hansen's, Wingnut, Mike Reilly of Free Fly. Photo by SESO.
Power brothers: Evan Slater of Sun Bum and Dylan Slater of Firewire and Outerknown. Photo by SESO.
Sand Cloud's Linda Leuthe, Brian Sanders, and Mitchell Brown. Photo by SESO.
Bajio is best known for its sunglasses, and its hats are also hot sellers. Photo by SESO.
Bajio's Sean Kelly, Giovanna Foster, Declan Rogers, Aned Navarro, and Sue Budd. Photo by SESO.
Beach and Barn founder Rusty Meador. Photo by SESO.
Derek Miller of Fair Harbor. Photo by SESO.
Gary Valentine of Salty Crew, Rod Tomlinson of Surf Expo, and Jason Shelton of Salty Crew. Photo by SESO.
Katin's Dale Rhodes, Aubrey Dilatush, and Saxon Wilson. Photo by SESO.
Tom Brown of 17th Street and Steve Ward of Haydenshapes. Photo by SESO.
Frankie Senese of Firewire and Slater Designs with Cheyne Cottrell of Island Water Sports. Photo by SESO.
Hobie Surf Shop is at the show for the first time - Savannah Gilliland, Malia Kho, and Trevor Erickson. Photo by SESO.
Richard Sanders of Vissla, Jason Steris of Roark, Paul Naude of Vissla. Photo by SESO.
More than 700 brands are exhibiting at Surf Expo, which started Wednesday at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.
So far, the talk on the floor is centering around the changes at Liberated Brands, if retailers will get shipped enough product for spring and summer, and about the next tier of brands looking to take advantage of the marketplace disruption.
And while market conditions have been challenging, we heard from a few brands and retailers that had record years, including footwear brand Reef and Curl’s retail store in California.
Above are some photos from the show floor – we’ll update this story with more photos and information as the show continues.
Updated: Thursday, 10:36 a.m. EST.
Katin Hosts Dinner for 70 Retailers and Staff
Katin invited key retailers to a dinner and party at sushi restaurant Dragonfly Wednesday night, which harkened back to gatherings the industry used to have on a regular basis.
Core retailers from around the country mingled with each other, discussing business trends, sharing private label ideas and brand strategies, given the disruption in the market.
“There are about 70 people here,” Katin President Mac Beu said. “We wanted to do this as an appreciation dinner with our retailers. Our brand is doing well because a lot of these people. Many of them have supported us for five or six years. We feel like they have done a lot for us.”
“It’s cool because the retailers get to mingle with each other, and we get to talk to everybody,” added Dale Rhodes, who heads up sales for Katin. “It also brings some energy back to our industry.”
Retailers mingling at the Katin dinner - Heritage in New Jersey, 17th Street in Virginia Beach, and T&C in Hawaii. Photo by SESO.
Dale Rhodes of Katin with T&C of Hawaii. Photo by SESO.
Hi-Tech, Katin, Surf Expo, Quiet Storm at Katin dinner. Photo by SESO.
Coastal Edge team of Virginia Beach at Katin dinner. Photo by SESO.
The Mesanko retail dynasty of New Jersey at Katin dinner. Photo by SESO.
Jamie and Brian Heritage of Heritage Surf Shop in New Jersey with nephew at the Katin dinner. Photo by SESO.
Updated Monday, 1:06 pm. PST.
More Photos from Second Day of Show
SESO stopped by many booths on Thursday. Bag company Aloha Collection debuted its back-to-school collection that includes lunch boxes and backpacks.
Head of Sales Matt Davis said by midday Thursday, the brand had already had about 100 appointments, including with Palmetto Moon, T&C, HIC, Local Motion, Cinnamon Rainbow and more.
“It’s been wild,” he said. “We’ve already written 60 at-once orders, too.”
Sunglass brand I-SEA was also hopping.
“The show has been absolutely amazing for us,” said co-owner and CEO Joey Santley. “It’s doing better than I expected. I thought it would be a good show – we’re having a great show. We’ve seen 100 accounts already and we’re not even done with Day Two. We’ve seen a lot of existing accounts, but about 30% to 40% new.”
Kurt Smith of Flairhouse and Shaun Tomson of Instinct. Photo by SESO
Elliot Glik of Glik's in the Midwest, and Mark Moffett and Diane Moffett of Rooster Bus. Photo by SESO.
Peter Maule of Marquee Brands, Dick's Sporting Goods buyer Josh Gratz, and Nick Meistrell of Body Glove and Dakine. Photo by SESO.
Jen Rainnie, owner of Malvados sandal company. Photo by SESO.
Malvados has expanded into accessories. Photo by SESO.
A new Quiksilver licensee debuted water bottles and other beach accessories - Ike Mosseri and Joel Nasar of M&S. Photo by SESO.
Underwear brand PSD has collabs with several retailers including Ron Jon, HIC, and WRV. Photo by SESO.
The PSD team. Photo by SESO.
Jetty Ink brought its successful screen printing business to the show. Photo by SESO.
Team Seager, which generated some buzz at the show with a performance by a country band. Photo by SESO.
Jim Glik of Glik's, far left, at the Free Fly booth. Photo by SESO.
Ryan Sirianni and Ryan Hitzel of Roark. Photo by SESO.
A showing at Dark Seas. Photo by SESO.
Chris Broders and Nick Lhotsky of Dark Seas. Photo by SESO.
Jeff Booth of Distant Local with legendary surfer Lisa Andersen. Retailers tell us Distant Local sells well.
Outerknown's new line created for surf shops. Photo by SESO.
Jarrod Sanders of Melonz Eyewear. Photo by SESO.
Jesse Westmacott of Farias Surf & Sport seeing the new Costa line with Costa's Whitney Sandford. Photo by SESO.
Checking out new boards at Sharpeye. Photo by SESO.
Linsey Cottrell, who owns Island Water Sports with her sister, Karly, and brother, Cheyne. Photo by SESO.
George Karamitos of Maui Nix with Dylan Slater of Outerknown and Firewire. Photo by SESO.
Perng Hutson, Tim McKevlin, and Heather Wall of McKevlin's Surf Shop in Folly Beach, S.C.
Retailers tell us Vacation sunscreen, which has a retro '80s vibe, sells well. Photo by SESO.
Madeline Maulin, Mary Kratsch, and Valerie Herrera of Vacation sunscreen. Photo by SESO.
Retailers in the outdoor industry say selling Goodr is like printing money - Edwin Cortes, Kristen Hagen, Tamara Win, and Akeem Martin. Photo by SESO.
New Aloha Collection lunch boxes. Photo by SESO.
Matt Davis and Jennifer Pearson of Aloha Collection. Photo by SESO.
Don Dyer, Allison Singer, and Joey Santley of I-Sea. Photo by SESO.
Mike Hiskey of custom hat company Pukka. Photo by SESO.
Retailers and brands at the show can work directly with Pukka designers on the show floor. Photo by SESO.
Cary Hinze of What The Fin. Photo by SESO.
Jetty's Cory Higgins, second from left, with the Ron Jon buying team: Kylie Strain, Karen Klimkiewicz, and Tiffany Arnold. Photo by SESO.
New Body Glove swim styles. Photo by SESO.
Sophie-Anne Heroux and Noah Gellis of Body Glove, Skye, and Eidon swimwear. Photo by SESO.
With Heritage Brands Missing, Competitors See Opportunity with “New Wave” Party
A flyer for the “New Wave” party held by several industry brands who want to launch a new chapter in the industry.
Billabong, RVCA, and Volcom are going through more upheaval after owner Authentic Brands Group pulled the licenses from Liberated Brands this month. Quiksilver, also owned by Authentic Brands Group, did not exhibit at the show, and neither did other heritage brands like O’Neill and Rip Curl.
That left the field wide open for brands such as Jetty, Katin, Vissla, Dark Seas, Roark, Seager, Rivvia Projects, Salty Crew, Florence, and Former, who pounced.
The brands banded together and threw an invite-only party for retailers at a pub in Orlando that harkened back to the fun times in the industry, when crowded, loud, and sweaty parties were the norm.
The brands who put on the party are founder-led and independent, and ready to work with retailers looking to balance the risk associated with another transition for the former Boardriders brands.
“The party was really important,” said Jetty co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer Cory Higgins. “It’s on us to usher in this new era responsibly and bring some energy back to our industry’s premier trade event.”
The idea for banding together for a party started when two industry clothing brands got together with a retailer and had a beer in New Jersey, said Roark founder and Chief Brand Officer Ryan Hitzel. “We thought it would be fun to do it again with some more of our friends that are founder-led and independent. Good things happen when we’re all together.”
Vissla CEO Paul Naude believes the party marks the dawn of a new era in the surf industry.
“Clearly, we haven’t lost the spirit that surf culture was built upon!” Naude said after the party. “That was a celebration by the right brands and retailers to officially mark the launch of the next chapter in the surf industry. The unity, energy, creativity, motivation, and pure stoke was clearly evident throughout the show culminating in a much needed rager at the New Wave party. It’s on now!”
Leaders of the "New Wave" brands. Photo courtesy of party hosts.
A scene from the party. Photo courtesy of party hosts.
The party was invite-only and crowded. Photo courtesy of party hosts.
