Vans, meanwhile, drops a billion in sales!
Az predicted a month back, and set to be revealed in coming days, is VF Corp’s acquisition of the once-iconic surf brands, Billabong, Quiksilver and RVCA.
Quiksilver, Billabong and RVCA all operate, or operated I suppose now, under the umbrella Boardriders Inc, majority owned by Oaktree Capital, an American global asset management firm
VF Corp, a behemoth in rude fiscal health that owns fifty percent of the US backpack market via its brands North Face, Timberland, Eastpak and JanSport, first had a swing at Billabong in 2013.
VF offered over half-a-billion dollars, before ending the chase when it became “too expensive.”
Dreams do come true, as they say, and the acquisition by one of the world’s largest apparel, footwear and accessories companies, consolidates VF Corp, which also owns the canvas shoe company Vans, as the hub around which surf fashion now revolves.
The buy comes amid mass sackings within the company, six hundred jobs shed following an astonishing one-billion dollar drop in sales from the aforementioned Vans, China and supply issues blamed for the probs.
More when the ink dries.
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Italo making it into the top 5 without a win isn’t an indictment of the format. With the new format, you have to win a contest to World Title the world title. In the past you could have won the title without a contest win.
YOU WILL OWN NOTHING… AND BE HAPPY ! –
To quote a famous American “what me worry”.
Didn’t VF buy Vision?
Is that why Doug Palladini is no longer at Vans? Because they lost a billion dollars?
Is Evan Slater’s job at Billabong at risk?
Just feel lucky to have been involved in all this during the Roaring 90s, when all the companies were run by the cool dudes who started them – aka The Bobs: Hurley, KcKnight, Fernando Aguerre, etc.
Now it all corporate and so very lame.
Timing is everything.
I wonder how long a surf board would heat a home.
Organic surf shops take note
How many times in the last 6 months do you think ELO sent his resume to VF?
VF’s next corporate assaults perhaps include the soft top, e-bike, and men’s facial skin care industries.
Thank god for thrift stores and 2nd hand shops, I like buying original stuff, not stuff thats regurgitated by China.
Save tons of deniro…..
Ever notice now that when you go into any store, they’re all selling the same shit? Doesn’t matter if it’s the local hardware store (if you’re lucky enough to have one still) or Home Depot – they all sell the same cheap items, less selection, down-the-middle sizes, and shapes… nothing unusual or hard to find. Just bland shit, cheap wrenches, and ten-penny nails. That’s where this is all going; sameness equals lameness; high profit junk for the masses.
Sounds like every surf shop owned by board riders ( or use to be)
you are very right, all the nuts and bolts are that much worse made, and to add insult to injury, my local hardware store now also has a rack of Wavestorms
it’s a mockery!
It drives me mad that when i buy a nozzle for the garden hose i can buy one brass fitting for like 60 bucks or 10 plastic ones for 50.
“Also, since surfing’s alliance with the decadent big-business interests is designed only as a temporary damper to complete fiscal collapse, the completion of such a partnership will serve only to accelerate the art’s demise”.
Surf is dead. Long live surf.
Yeah, when I first stumbled on “Surf is Dead”, a couple years back I thought I maybe found the lost tribe of anti-mainstream Rebel surfers or something.
But I still haven’t figured out what they are really about.
Know their t-shirts are way over priced though.
By “supply chain” do they mean shit quality?
Is Conan Hayes in on this deal?
That’s a Q you’re going to have to ask him. (u/j. I think he cashed out long ago).
Q-anonymous ?
Their HQ is in Denver– far from the ocean.
Speaking of, has Julian’s golf/bike/surf/boomer line already gone belly up?
Sounds like a given
waiting for a buy out??
Where the gym meets the beach meets the streets meets the bottom line
Down a billion dollars? You know a sure-fire way to fix that? Buy another 3 semi failing businesses in a niche industry.
They should buy the WSL — that would make them rich!
If you believe ELO everything is up 300% in the surf market?
THEY’LL NEVER BUY HURLULEY!!!!
Imagine the negatively geared cash breaks you could take advantage of?
I bet for a cool $4 usd, hurluley can be snapped up in a hostile takeover. Not that I would.
NEVER!!!!
($4.50 perhaps)
Godspeed you! Black emperors https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Yes all of the Constellation records albums had fantastic artwork
As bb and qs bought more and more brands through tue 00’s the less and less product they sold. The cost synergies vf hope to achieve will result in indistinguishable product across the brands and less sales as time moves on.
On the positive, skate(vans) has just had an amazing run and history says the punters move from skate to surf so the purchase may be of perfect timing for the transition to the next surf boom!
Blah blah blah