Amuse Society hits the floor...

Mandy Fry and Summer Rapp have officially dropped their line into our world! Amuse Society hit a local account here in the Mid Atlantic and was given its own small t-stand. Time will tell if the brad will make it in the world of Women's Surf. Amuse Society is meant to be combination of pretty and tough. The brand is coining the term "beach vida bling" to express the lifestyle of the Amuse girl. 

Something new for sweatpants?

Urban brand Trukfit is now offering a kangaroo pouch pocket, usually found on sweatshirts, on their sweatpants.  This offers the customer something different from the standard side pockets, that are seen everywhere these days. The printed one shown here retails for $78. 

Casual Drawstring Pants Trending

I have noticed in North Florida that casual drawstring pants seem to be trending.  They were either in the window with marketing POP support or on front aisle table.  Stores from Pac Sun, Tillys, American Eagle Outfitters, and Express Men.  Prices range from $30-$60.

Instagram Sale

While doing my usual IG feed check I came across a post from a local Hawaii based store.  The Butik will be having their first IG sale.  Customer simply register at the store website, then look for the "buy now" symbol, #SOLD, and a invoice will be sent to.  Retailers are using almost every avenue possible to make shopping a cinch!

Activewear: growth and opportunity at Macy's

It's no secret that active wear has taken on speed and popularity as heathly living becomes a greater priority among Americans. 

Macy's will be chasing this ever growing market hard as we finish out the back end of the year and look into 2015. 

The greatest impacts perhaps will be to millennial, activewear itself, and men's departments surrounding a newly leased brand corner. 

Locker Room by Lids. 

Following suit with Sunglass Hut, Starbucks, and Finishline; Locker Room by Lids has opened branded corners across Macy's nationwide. 

The corners feature clean hard ware and wall units that have a a light hint of gum Locker in their design. 

Product is a range of sporting goods apparel targeting major league sport teams across the NBA, NFL, and MLB. 

These new additions are gaining space on already tight retail floors and hold promise of high product turn over.   

Smaller ctivewear brands and juniors millennial are feeling the squeeze too.  As Macy's makes way for large Nike brand corners and are bringing in newer lines like Roxy fitness. 

With Activewear trending with a growth rate of +20% nationwide Macy's is putting their dollars in a once less competitive arena. Now - sportswear brands who wish to grow will have to compete on an even more premium level gain ground. 

Photos to come. 

Juicy Couture and Kohls

Juicy Couture known for their pricey velour warm up suits is now exclusively carried in Kohls. The collection consists of the velour pieces that are synonymous with their label but also offers some fashion denim, sweaters and tees with a price range of $25-$75 and like most of the product that Kohls offers is often on sale with  POS of 25% or more.

Cova

These lovely lads were at Expo as well!

This entire blog was taken from shop eat surf and was wrote by Tiffany Montgomery. I just wanted another avenue for people to see it.

The former leaders of Quiksilver’s Waterman Collection are launching a new brand at Outdoor Retailer and have assembled an experienced team of veteran sales reps and investors.

Founders Guy Stagman, the former Waterman design leader, and Kent Stevens, who led sales and more, describe their new brand, COVA, as a “premium men’s sportswear line embracing traditional craftsmanship and authentic flavor from the seven seas.”

The target customer is a 25-plus male looking for quality construction, and sophisticated fabrication and fit, Guy and Kent said.

It is the niche where many larger brands have seen opportunity over the years but have abandoned offshoot brands, either because of cost cutting initiatives, or because they are so focused on their primary younger customer that other efforts get lost and are not a priority. 

“Our experience shows us that this customer is underserved as several established brands have moved away from this segment and all of the new brands being announced are pursuing a younger, more fashion-oriented customer,” Kent said. “COVA is a lifestyle brand.”

Many Quiksilver veterans with deep retailer relationships have joined COVA.

Tom Holbrook and Steve Tully are investors and will sit on the board of directors. COVA has also assembled additional investors that are part of the lifestyle the brand is promoting.

Rounding out the executive team are Shayne McIntyre, who will lead marketing and was the face of Quiksilver Waterman for many years; Briana Gigliotti, the former Waterman designer who will work in design and merchandising; Randy Noborikawa who is the art director; and Linda Stegeman, who will manage key accounts and Orange County and San Diego sales. Linda was a Waterman rep for nine years in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada.

COVA will launch for Spring ’15 with wovens, knits, T-shirts, walkshorts, hybrid "Surf ‘n Turf" shorts, boardshorts and volleys. For summer and fall, COVA will add fleece, lightweight jackets, sweaters, and pants.

The rep force includes many ex-Quiksilver, Quiksilver Waterman and Roxy reps, and an ex-Billabong rep. Willy Morris in North Los Angeles, Janner Asuncion in Hawaii/Guam, Andy White in the Southwest, Piper Brown in the Midwest, Dan Hopkins in the Northeast, Jon Kleintop in the Southeast, Bob Rohmann in North Florida and Dimitri Kjos in South Florida/Caribbean are all part of the team.

COVA is pursuing a wide range of distribution because they believe this customer shops in many different places, and they know that wives buy a lot of the clothes. Types of accounts COVA will pursue include specialty, sporting goods, resort and outdoor retailers.

On the international front, COVA has aligned with Softwear Apparel Group in Canada, and is in discussions with potential partners is Mexico and South America. Representation in other regions has not yet been solidified.

In addition to Outdoor Retailer, COVA will show Spring ’15 at Surf Expo in September.

Rinse Kit

When Chicken and I were at Surf Expo last week he shared with me this new product- super cool and I can't wait to get one. The website is rinse kit.com and they are a lovely small crew that are in the video and showing/selling the product.

The container holds a 1 1/2 gallons of pressurized water and retails at $89. It is perfect for rinsing off sand for an entire family! You just hook it up to your outside water spicket to get the water pressurized. The compartment on top is great to hold any wet items like wetsuits or bathing suits.

Check out the video on you tube

http://youtu.be/XwrIcLUuZvc

14th Annual Quiksilver/Roxy E.C.S.C. Super Grom Event

The 14th annual Quiksilver Roxy  E.C.S.C.  Super Groms was a huge success this  
year.  The event was said to be the best run Super groms  event ever hosted in  
Virginia Beach.  Orchestrated  by Quiksilver's Rick Banta, Paul West,  
Wes Laine, Matt Kechele, Brad Harrell , Kaleigh Tharrington, and  Brittany  
Onhaizer.  There were 116 little groms that got their first taste of a surf contest
atmosphere.  This event at ECSC is a perfect extension to the Wes Laine  
Surf Camp that we sponsor all summer long. All participants got Quiksilver/Roxy Lycra, Medals, Stickers,  
Posters, and Pizza.  Chad Wells  was able to arrange having  Kanoa  
Igarashi, Matty Passaquindici, and Noa Mizuno lend a hand out in the  
water by pushing the kids into waves. Brad Harrell  was a huge  
help on land and also spent hours in the water giving some pushes. Rick Banta kept the heats flowing and Kaleigh Tharrington channeled the entries  
forms questions and registration.  Wes Laine and Matt Kechele called out heats  on the microphone on top of the scaffolding and really got the crowd going. Their commentary really helped the kids feel like they were in a real competition. 

We are continuing to see great online coverage and also saw some local TV coverage of the event. Quiksilver is still receiving great feedback from this event. 

Special Thanks to Coastal Edge Surf Shop  and everyone in our Quiksilver family that helped support this great event!

Birchbox opens 1st brick and mortar store in NYC

Birchbox, a leading beauty e-commerce company launched in 2010 opened it's first shop in Soho this past Summer. They have learned so much about how they can drive customers to change their bahavior online and saw an opportunity to extend into offline retail to evolve with their customers needs.

They feature 2,000 products and have other features such as BYOB, build your own Birchbox, where shoppers can select 5 sample sized products for $15, hair, nail and makeup services.

Personalization through technology and content will be the main focus of the shopping experience in the physical store just like their online store.

Tom Carroll visits 17th Street Surf Shop in Virginia Beach

Two time world champ and 2014 Waterman of the Year, Tom Carroll graced VBers with his presence this past Friday at 17th Street Surf Shop in Virginia Beach. Tom popped by 17th Street's surf camp ending ceremony to give some inspiration to the new generation of surfers. He was able to share his experiences about tackling some of the largest waves in the world! He later did a book and poster signing inside the store from 5-7 pm. We were lucky enough to have him join the rest of our Quiksilver team in the Mid Atlantic for a dinner with17th Street owner, Tom Brown and a few key employees. Joining us for the event and dinner was Jaci Schroeder from HQ. As well at east coast surfing legend, Matt Kechele from Wilmington, North Carolina. We are so glad was able to pop into Virginia Beach before heading back to Austrailia!