California Apparel News

Girls rule.

Or at least they will come mid-July, when a first-of-its-kind trade show for the female side of the action-sports world is launched in Long Beach, Calif.

For more than 20 years, apparel and accessory companies that focus on the boardsports crowd have congregated at the Action Sports Retailer (ASR) trade shows, which attract hundreds of buyers, apparel makers and die-hard partygoers.

Jaime Sparks, a longtime trade-show organizer, is the founder of Action Girl Sports. She is looking to carve out a piece of ASR’s market when she launches her three-day show at the Long Beach Convention Center on July 17.

Sparks is hoping the Long Beach Convention Center will bring her show the same success it brought ASR, which had held its February show at the Long Beach Convention Center before moving recently to San Diego, where it also holds its September show.

“The junior-type companies are really hungry to have a show that is going to bring the buyers closer to them,” said the 33-year-old Sparks, who at the age of 8 was the National Amateur Skateboard Champion. “Juniors and young contemporary are the hottest part of the industry right now.”

Indeed, statisticians have been tracking this burgeoning market for some time. Board-Trac, a market-research group in Trabuco Canyon, Calif., that monitors the lifestyle and purchasing habits of the 9- to 25-year-old boardsports enthusiast, has found that girls make up 26 percent of skateboarders between the ages of 9 and 25. They also make up 25 percent of surfers in the same age group.

“The number of girls who surf every day has increased by 280 percent since 1999,” said Marie Case, co-founder of Board-Trac. “Girls who skateboard every single day have increased 170 percent during the same time period.”

That fact has not been lost on major manufacturers catering to the boardsports customer. Big names such as Quiksilver, Ocean Pacific, Billabong and Rusty have been rolling out tween and junior lines faster than you can say “surf’s up.”

Recently O’Neill Clothing, an Irvine, Calif.–based company that pioneered the wet-suit business before branching out into beach apparel, announced it would add a 7- to 14-year-old girls’ category to its junior line. Junior sales made up 44 percent of the company’s first-quarter sales in 2003.

That’s the kind of vendor Sparks would like to see at her trade show.

“I’m taking a small part of this niche market that is hot and giving the buyers, retailers and manufacturers a spotlight under which they can grow the industry,” Sparks said.

About 100 exhibitors have signed up for the new show, Sparks said.

However, none of the big guys have put up the money to rent booths. Quiksilver, Hurley International, Op and O’Neill will not be there.

Kik Wear Industries, a Los Angeles–based streetwear company, is still contemplating whether it will participate in the show.

“We’re on the fence right now,” said Kik Wear President Alex Berenson, who said he is waiting to see who else will be participating. “I feel the trade-show arena is in disarray. It is not a vibrant situation. There are too many of them. I’m not sure if the retailers right now are all that excited about going to trade shows.”

Priced for new lines

Sparks acknowledged that the big names will be missing from her line-up. “People like Hurley are not participating because they want to take a look at us and see if we will fit their whole concept,” said Sparks, who added that other companies had already committed their marketing budgets by the time the show’s plans were finalized. “We are introducing brand-new companies that have never been able to exhibit before because the price for booths has been so high.”

Booth space for Action Girl Sports costs $16.95 per square foot, which means a 10-foot-by-10-foot booth at ASR is $2,240, and the show offers discounts for multiple booths. Booths at ASR cost nearly $3,000. Booths at MAGIC International in Las Vegas cost at least $3,495.

Companies signed up for the Action Girl show include American Apparel Inc., Better Surf Than Sorry, Chickabilly, Chicks Who Rip Clothing Co., Fila Sportswear, Mao’s Fashion Designs, Sugar Kiss and Tecirc;te to Toe.

“We felt the show would probably hit our market because we do surfboard-shaped beach towels that are popular with girls,” said Natasha Rivera, a sales representative with San Diego–based Better Surf Than Sorry.

According to Sparks, preregistered buyers for the show include Zutopia, Wet Seal, Charlotte Russe, Lady Foot Locker and Bebe Stores Inc.

Anaheim, Calif.–based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., which has more than 600 stores catering to the 12- to 22-year-old customer, is not planning to attend.

“We are going to ASR,” said Debbie Shinn, PacSun’s vice president and general merchandise manager for juniors.

Action Sports Retailer executives are carefully watching the show. While none of ASR’s major exhibitors are participating in the Long Beach show, it is a potential competitor.

“I would say any professional trade show is competition for ASR from the standpoint that we are always competing for people’s time and people’s dollars,” said Kevin Flanagan, ASR show director. “But in terms of direct competition, we don’t have a lot of shared customers at this point.”

Action Girl Sports will be held four times in 2004, Sparks said. The trade show will take place at Surf Expo in Orlando, Fla., next January and September. Action Girl will be held in New York in March and will move back to Long Beach in August.