End of Billabong’s once mighty surf empire official as massive Gold Coast headquarters shuttered and offered for rent!

Tumbleweeds blow through 1 Billabong Place, Burleigh Heads, former ground zero of the world's biggest surf co.

It was a bleak yuletide last year when Billabong, part of a brace of surf companies then owned by Oaktree, and including Quiksilver and RCVA, sacked sixty employees from its Burleigh Heads HQ. 

The mass layoffs were designed to streamline the biz on paper, sharpen the bottom line.

“I am confident that these changes will set us on the path to achieving our goals and creating a more agile company suited to adapt to the evolving environment,” said Boardriders CEO Arne Arens in a press release, stating the very obvious. Kill the soldiers, fill in the trenches and watch your payroll bill vanish.

Industry insiders told The Gold Coast Bulletin, the sacking were “brutal especially just before Christmas. No one knew who was going to lose their jobs or keep them.”

Now, Billabong’s once-iconic eight acre compound, with parking for 466 cars, a two-storey stand-along retail store, all amid landscaped gardens and on its own little road, is being offered to rent. 

Need space for your burgeoning t-shirt biz? Here’s the sell.

The offering comprises:

• An impressive 2 level standalone retail/showroom fronting Billabong Place; and

• A 2 level office/warehouse building serviced via 2 driveway entries off Billabong Place and capturing around 14,937sqm of GLA across office, warehouse and retail/showroom and ancillary uses.

• Onsite café with outdoor breakout area available to building occupants and their visitors

Office Component:

The main building includes air-conditioned office space over 2 levels serviced via stairs and lift. The standard of office fitout is to a high level with the overall design reflective of the creative nature of the existing business with a blend of floor, ceiling and wall finishes reflecting different zones of the business, substantial breakout and meeting spaces for collaborative working, high ceilings and plenty of natural light. The office space is sub-dividable to suit larger users from 800sqm plus.

Warehouse Component:

The warehouse is 5,456sqm with 560sqm of mezzanine air-conditioned office, kitchen/breakout space, high clearance and loading docks. The access via 2 driveway points enables access for larger vehicles.

At its peak, Billabong was valued at five billion Australian dollars, with its marquee riders all on multi-million dollar salaries, but eventually sold for $390 mill or one dollar a share. A good sponno at Billys now is twenty grand and a small plastic zip-lock bag with stickers of a stylised wave.

Good news for consumers, howevs, as tees are now being schlepped at discount retailers for $13.99 instead of, what, fifty, sixty bucks?