California Apparel News

With the U.S. Open of Surfing competition taking place a few blocks away, the Agenda trade show rode an unexpected wave of good business during its latest run Aug. 4–5 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Mike Murphy, sales and marketing manager with Costa Mesa, Calif.–based brand Fyasko, expected a slow show for the art- and active sports–focused trade event.

This year, Agenda fell a week before the Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo in San Diego and two weeks before the MAGIC Marketplace, Project and the other apparel trade shows kick off in Las Vegas.

“I was making calls to my accounts. They said, ’We’re not going to Agenda; we’re going to be in Vegas,” Murphy said.

But Murphy hustled to pull his accounts into the show. By the time Agenda ended, he reported two very busy days when he and other vendors saw influential retailers such as Sun Diego, The Closet, Active, Jack’s Surfboards, Pacific Sunwear, Zumiez, The Buckle and Karmaloop. Others retailers reportedly browsing the show were Swell.com, Revolve and Nordstrom.

Agenda founder Aaron Levant estimated retail traffic increased 25 percent at the show compared with Agenda’s show in January, which was attended by more than 3,500 people. He estimated more than 250 brands exhibited at the recent run of the show, where most of the vendors had roots in the surf and skate industry. Quiksilver, Vans and Volcom all rented seminar rooms at the show, while most of the show’s brands rented 10-by-10 and 10-by-20 booths.

Buyers were attracted by the show’s timing, which gave them the chance to be among the first to place their orders for Spring 2011, Levant said. Many retailers showed up because the show’s location was convenient. “It’s down the street,” said Vick Tran a manager and marketer/buyer for Huntington Beach–based e-commerce store 80’s Purple.

Tran placed orders for brands such as Copy, The Lovewright Co. and In4mation. Yet he thought there was no overarching trend at the show—except that these brands were trying to keep all of their options open. “If you ask a brand what they are, they say they are not skate or streetwear; they say they are a lifestyle company,” he said.

Tran said his budget was on par with last year’s. Yet the show’s burgeoning crowds seemed to provide anecdotal proof that the economy was gaining steam, he said.

While many said the economy was gaining strength, Rod Smith, the owner of White Chocolate skate shops in Lawrence, Kan., said his consumers were still being frugal. It was a compelling reason to play it safe with his merchandising. “I don’t think I’m going to pick up new brands,” he said. “I’m going to strengthen relationships with the brands I’ve been working with.”

If consumers were not currently opening their wallets, many retailers seemed comfortable with taking a risk on the future. Vendors such as Mark Encinas of Los Angeles–based brand DTA said most of the orders they wrote were for their Spring 2011 collections. For Cody De Backer, a manager with the 722 Figueroa showroom, business was up20 percent at Agenda over last August’s run of the show.

Other vendors said Agenda was a great place for a new brand to make a splash. Cardboard Robot founder Mason Brown debuted Clocky, his new line of T-shirts, hoodies and accessories. “We got a lot of contacts,” he said. “It’s a great place to get the word out.”

Agenda is a company on the move. Last month, it debuted its first New York show, which ran July 19–20 at the Chelsea Art Museum in Manhattan. More than 2,000 attendees walked through the show, where more than 60 brands exhibited. Another Agenda show in New York is scheduled for January 2011.

For Agenda’s Winter show in California, Levant will produce a larger event Jan. 6–7, 2011, at the Anaheim Marriott in Anaheim, Calif., which will include a 15,000-square-foot wing to showcase snowboard brands. For its Summer 2011 show, Agenda will return to Huntington Beach, where it will again coincide with the U.S. Open of Surfing.