Quiksilver's New Mission
Is surfwear strictly the domain of teen-agers? Not according to Quiksilver. The venerable surf giant’s Quiksilver Edition Santa Monica is designed for fashionable men aged 25 to 45. Its Summer/Fall 2007 collection shipped to retailers such as Macy’s,Nordstrom and Becker Surf & Sport in May. And on June 22, Quiksilver hosted a grand fete for the collection, which is designed for a guy who surfs but doesn’t call everybody “dude.”
Quiksilver, based in Huntington Beach, Calif., opened a lounge called the Quiksilver Edition Mission on stylish Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Los Angeles’ Venice Beach neighborhood. The company invited the general public to the mission, which is temporarily housed in a film-production office.
The space displays Quiksilver Edition clothes and hosts events. So far, the mission has served as the site for yoga classes, a tour of Venice Beach murals and talks on men’s health conducted by doctors from the University of California, Los Angeles. The mission has also held surfdog entertainments such as tequila tastings, screenings of surf movies and performances by DJs. Mission parties have drawn crowds ranging from 25 to 600 people.
Quiksilver is the No. 1 vendor at Dave Hollander’s pioneering chain of boutiques, Becker Surf & Sport, based in Hermosa Beach, Calif. Becker’s Hollander said the Quiksilver Edition line is doing well because it targets an exclusive customer.
“He’s the guy who buys the $700 surfboard, then goes back to his dentist job,” Hollander said.
On June 11, the publicly traded Quiksilver published Securities and Exchange Commission documents outlining the performance of its quarter that ended on April 30. Despite a posted loss of $4.8 million, Quiksilver’s apparel brands performed well. Sales of its fashion brand increased 21 percent compared with the same quarter in the previous year. The Roxy, Quiksilver and DC Shoes brands, among others, earned $519.1 million during the last quarter.
However, revenues for equipment brands, such as ski manufacturer Rossignol and golf-club maker Cleveland Golf, declined 4 percent. In a recent conference with analysts, Quiksilver Chief Executive Bob McKnight said that his company is considering selling the equipment brands.
For more information, visit www.quiksilvereditionmission.org. —Andrew Asch
