French Surf Brand Lands in California
While American surf brands practice manifest destiny abroad, Oxbow, a 23-year-old French surf brand, is claiming its own corner of Southern California turf and is looking to expand its reach.
In June, the brand, which is headquartered in Bordeaux, France, opened a self-named retail store in Santa Monica, Calif., just off the city’s bustling Third Street Promenade.
The store is Oxbow’s first push into the American market, but it’s not necessarily one that is exemplary of what the company hopes to accomplish stateside. “The store is a very elaborate marketing strategy,” said Gary Hunt, chief executive officer of Oxbow’s U.S. division. Oxbow’s end goal is to cater to the country’s approximately 2,600 core surf shops and establish itself as a sophisticated alternative to the typical surf fare.
“We have 44 more shops around the world in places like Tokyo, Hong Kong, Germany and Spain. They are flagship stores in locations with high tourist populations and act more to emphasize the brand,” Hunt said. “We don’t want to compete with our wholesale accounts. Our true focus is all about wholesale.”
In the United States, Oxbow plans to open no more than six of its own stores, with the second location to open in 2009 in Waikiki, Hawaii. “Being a foreign company, it’s good to have bricks-and-mortar locations. It conveys to potential wholesale accounts that we are here for the long run and investing in our U.S. business. We’re not going to fly by night,” Hunt said.
Oxbow, which will introduce its men’s and women’s apparel and accessories at the Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo in San Diego in September, offers a French spin on the surf aesthetic. In Europe, where core surf shops aren’t as numerous as in the United States, Oxbow sells two collections. One collection skews more toward mainstream fashion and is sold in department stores, while the other retains more of a core sensibility.
For its American presence, Oxbow will stock its own stores with a mix of the two and will cherry-pick the more core goods to wholesale to surf shops here. “We’re an old-school brand, and we distinguish ourselves by targeting a slightly older demographic than the traditional surf brand,” Hunt said. “Typically, surf brands target 12- to 18-year-olds. Oxbow focuses on college age and older—more around 25 to 35.”
Fabrics and design details, he said, are a big focus for Oxbow’s European design team. “There is more attention paid to high-count [cotton] or organic cotton, soft hand on fabric and value-added design details. In Europe there is a slightly more sophisticated taste level.” In the end, Oxbow’s wholesale prices hover about 10 percent above domestic surf brand offerings.
Domestic distribution will be managed out of Boulder, Colo., where Oxbow’s parent company, Paris-based La Fuma F.A., has offices.
Hunt will manage Oxbow’s operations out of offices above the Santa Monica flagship. Eventually, a showroom will be built for the brand, but for now, road reps are taking the collection around the country to familiarize retailers with the brand.
Before joining Oxbow in July 2007, Hunt served as president of OP Apparel USA and Globe and until 2000 held the post of vice president of product development at surf retail giant Pacific Sunwear of California, which grew from a $40 million company to a $700 million company during his nine-year tenure. —Erin Barajas
