By Steven Fisher, Surf Expo Boardsports Buyer Relations Manager

Aloha from Virginia Beach, Virgina! Fish here on the road spreading good cheer about the absolute best surf and resort industry trade show in the universe! I’ll have daily updates on who I see and what they have to say. It’s gonna be a hoot!

It’s waist high and glassy today, a little shore pound. I just missed the swell over the weekend. Most everyone I talked to got wet, so smiles are everywhere.

Freedom Surf Shop
First stop is to see my ol’ pal Dave Shotton at Freedom Surf Shop. Dave’s the new owner of the store and it looks fantastic—what a cool retro feel. Dave’s got some great boards here from Lost and Bill Frierson (one of my fav’s). He’s also dabbling in the new paddleboard category and appears to be doing well, selling boards as fast as he can bring them in.

It’s a soulful shop and Dave likes it that way. Locals come in to hang out on the couch and just chill, music is playing and the candles around the cash wrap add to the ambiance. Dave prides his shop and his staff with providing excellent customer service—especially when it comes to consumer awareness in the board market.

The hottest brand in the store is RVCA and he’s doing a nice new table presentation up front with Lost as we speak. Boards and surf accessories are the high point at Freedom Surf and (like most of you) he struggles with kids apparel due to price points. Footwear is an up-and-coming category in this store and his junior’s apparel sales are great. Dave’s biggest issue is with hardgood margins. He had a great July 4th weekend and is steadily growing his local biz. The shop’s off the beaten path but well worth the trip!



Seventeenth Street Surf Shop
Next up is Tom Brown and Bob Irizarry from 17th Street. Tom has a small empire of shops here in VB and the surrounding area all the way down to the Outer Banks. The main store is at the ocean front with smaller “neighborhood” locations to bring the experience inland a bit. His newest jewel is the store in Wilmington, NC.

Tom is an ol’ school retail master and his stores prove the point. Neat and merchandised to a “T” they provide shopping ease while staying core. They’ve come up with a cool program with pricepoints when it comes to board sales by adding an entry-level collection to get kids in the water. The high price of today’s boards may be keeping some from getting wet, so Tom has lowered the margins on his Pride boards to ease folks into the waves. Add on great customer service and you have a return customer for life. Tom is really getting behind this measure, “We’re doing everything we can to keep kids involved to grow the business. Surf teams, camps—got to introduce the sport to the kids and keep them in the surf business.”

Top-performing categories are men’s and junior’s swim with a resurgence in bright baggies. Skate is also doing well. The trend of knits and woven’s for the guys has now passed and fashion tees are once again on the rise. Hurley is really growing its presence at 17th Street and staples like Volcom, Quiksilver, O’Neill and Billabong remain strong. Footwear is doing well with DC sales on the rise. Nike and Fallen are good, too. Junior’s business is soft with so many options to “throw away” fashions. His gals aren’t as brand loyal as the guys and a twenty dollar sundress from somewhere else like H&M is drawing that business away. The economy is a concern—as is the credit crunch—but supporting the surf lifestyle is helping to maintain sales. Also of a concern is mainstream shopping meccas like Target. “Target is becoming a cool place to shop now,” says Brown, pointing to Mossimo’s success with good price-points and surfy fashions. Action sports phenom Shaun White will also be launching his Target line soon “How is our industry going to hold onto its athletes?”

Coastal Edge
Last stop of the day is with Dee Nachnani from Coastal Edge. Dee is quickly becoming a player in VB and the brands have noticed. The store looks great: very inviting with good table presentation. The walls are set like a “store within a store” – light boxes and banners direct the customer to their favorite brand and this is vital to Dee’s success in partnering with the manufacturers. Billabong, Vans, RVCA, and Volcom are easy to find and the staff is super friendly! Men’s boardshorts and tees are his strongest category. Kids and home décor are Coastal Edge’s biggest merchandise challenges. Junior’s fashions are doing well here and Dee credits his goal of merchandising as a collection as the key; seeing the whole brand story rather than shopping a rack is appealing to his guest.

His footwear sales are strong and he credits the generational buyer where the second and third generation of skater in the family is shopping his wall. Dee’s got the best outlook on the “R” word – just don’t support the chat about the economy and look for growth potential: “I see a happy meal toy and I think how can I ‘value size’ what we’re offering?” Dee’s point is: in surviving this economy it will make him a better retailer. “Not just surviving but thriving!” he says. Promotions and marketing are the top of his list, from texting sales and shop info to his customer base to partnering with Vans for a weekend fashion show and fun-fest. “It was like a mini Warp Tour out here last weekend!” he says. His no-excuse policy is refreshing. “Yes, there are challenges, but they must be solution based.”

His stores are showing growth and he’s actually adding overhead. Dee also works hard to maintain the corporate culture of his stores and supports his staff big time. In-store contests, bringing staff to Surf Expo for an extra “eye” or just to buff out the worthy goes a long way. So does a kind comment at the end of the day.

Check back tomorrow for more tales from the road!
Aloha and Mahalo!

fish