Sarina Lewis

Euro Surf News - October

Spruking surf in Barcelona
Mid-September saw another meeting of like-minds in Barcelona, only this time there was no bread and butter on the menu. Instead, it was Surf Shop Barcelona that called together surf, snow and skate brands to a niche fair aimed purely at the boardsports industry.

The list of core brand attendees was long (everyone from Channel Island Surfboards and Sexwax to Da Kine and Square among others), with industry big boys Quiksilver, Billabong and Von Zipper adding some necessary weight.

And the result? Statistics place 700 attendees at the three-day event, with Surf Shop already pledging to schedule a second show with weekend dates in a hope to attract heavier foot-traffic. (About 300 consumers also made it through the door in the last few hours of the final day – the show was opened to street traffic – to mixed feedback from booth holders.)

But while SSB organisers were “stoked” by the reactions of participants, word elsewhere has been slightly mixed: Opinion ran the gamut from “cool and vibey” to “completely dead”. Admits Robert Thomas, the director of Surf Shop: “Ninety-five per cent of exhibitors said they were happy…but it was tough, because the show has no track record.”

Still, the hope is there that SSB could go some way to filling the ASR-shaped hole in Europe. The show’s focus on core brands carries currency at a time when surf fashion looks to be reaching its zenith and a return to core is widely rumoured among industry folk.

Look out for next year’s SSB repeat, currently scheduled for September 15, 16 and 17.

Vertical retail to reach new heights
Europe is bracing itself for a flood of surf retail development in the coming year, as O’Neill, Oxbow, Rip Curl and Billabong all announce intentions to significantly expand their retail and merchandising programs.

Rip Curl hopes to open a further 12 to 15 outlets across Europe in the next four years, with both Oxbow and Billabong looking toward similarly-timed expansion.

O’Neill, however, appears particularly keen to make an impact, with the launch of a full-scale assault that could see the opening of at least 100 stores in Western Europe over the next five years.

“Current market trends indicate that sports distribution is increasingly moving away from the high streets of the larger cities and diffusing out towards the peripheries.” says Peter Ottervanger, O’Neill’s European Retail Director. “The new multi-brand retail strategy therefore sees O’Neill Europe repositioning and adopting a ‘back to the roots’ approach to present their established brand portfolio alongside up-and-coming, cutting-edge labels.”

Such expansive investment appears to be a good sign for the European surf industry, with the large financial commitments indicating a firm belief in the market’s future possibilities.

“Everything we see points to being established in Europe, but the feeling isn’t as secure as in Australia or South Africa,” says one industry-head. “This investment shows we are willing to take control of our own destinies.”

Waterman’s Ball awards Aussie dedication and innovation
EuroSIMA’s annual Waterman’s Ball concluded with a bang on the night of Andy Iron’s Quik Pro victory in Hossegor on September 30 (made all the more raucous by a title-race kept alive after Slater’s quarter-final loss).