http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,24691127-462,00.html
and as the whole barnyard watched
the sky actually fell.
the only one affected was
the rooster.he was standing
atop the barn
he thought he was controling
the direction of the wind.
…ambrose…
Classic, Ambrose, classic.
he is a funny man. i really wish i had time to call in to his place when i was there…
aw shux dave next time just pull over
in traffic to resst while your group
goes shopping accross the street.
or on the way to the airport.
…ambrose…
humor is an oasis in this
dire material plane
if I could just remember
that punchline…
Chapter 11 or 13…?
The jury may be out on this one…Q sold Rossignol (the French ski company) in the tail end of this year. For around 150 mil. to free up some cash. It was for a loss, but that is not an uncommon scenario right now. Unfortunately their debt still hovers at 1.05 billion.
That’s a lot of debt to swallow. Pac Sun and many other retail entities are looking at business being off in the neighborhood of 80%. So to put this into perspective, how would you do if you were suddenly bringing in 1/5th the money you did last year?
So each time I see evidence of this stuff happening, it goes back to my ‘maximize with the minimum’ philosophy. Something that Surfding decided had merit (thank you SD for validating me). Guess what? He reduced his overhead to 1/5th of what it was just previous to this lip coming down. Of course this in one guy versus a large company trying to trim the fat overnite.
The sigh of relief…yes, but still a bummer from everyone having a credit crunch hangover that won’t go away…and the harsh reality that many of us aren’t ‘equity rich’ anymore. It was one great ride.
The problem with that, all being said and done, is that your PROPERTY TAXES are still based on inflated values which curiously enough also include the real estate agents commission rolled into it…guess what, their commission has nothing to do with the actual value of your home, and when I talked to a realtor friend she agreed that it’s a bogus deal to include that into ‘total’ value of your home…so if you bought a house for a million bucks, you’re paying $10K in property taxes each year (here in CA)…problem is, now your house is only worth 800K, maybe less…give it time and we shall see where it settles. More from the OUCH department.
I seriously doubt that you have gotten a recent notice imparting good news that your City Assessor’s Department has determined that the recent drop in home values is resulting in your municipality giving you a property tax break relative and proportionate to the substantial drop in home values? How about your home insurance policy…did that go UP too? They justify the increase because there are less homeowners to fleece. Smarts, doesn’t it?
See how it works…when the price goes UP ON THESE TAXES OR REQUIRED EXPENSES they never go down, the only thing that goes down is your paycheck…and gas, because OPEC realized the world’s working stiffs would go under if they lmited supply and kept the price up…of course when it was nearing $5 here, it was 23 cents in Venezula, and around 44 cents in Saudi, where the people can’t afford more than that…funny how that works.
Quik is a really good company and I hope they come through this financial crisis. I have friends there and they are all core guy’s. Bob McKnight started as a stoked surfer living the dream and had good insight as well as Jeff Hackman and others that were involed in the rise of Quik. I would love to see this organization pull through which I have faith that they will somehow?
The Surf Industry is more than some money hungry machine as many people on this site demonize it at times. There are so many families that depend on it for their livelyhoods just as you depend on your real jobs to support your families. I think that sometimes people get resentful of people who have better life styles than themselves. Surfing besides the actual act of surfing encompasses many other asspects including a lifestlye that requires freedom to step out for a couple of hours when the waves are firing. In most surf related companies you need to have water time during your work week and stay core to the sport or art of surfing.
Like many companies including ourselves have to re-think the way we manage our business’s so we can all enjoy what we love most, going surfing and making boards to play in the ocean. So down sizing and reducing our comsumption is the correct formula for the time being. Basically operating leaner. I was lucky to have reduced my overhead by 80%. This has help me to stay in business. We did this just before the market crashed. I did not have a crystal ball. It just seemed like things were getting stagnet? I thank this site for all the cool swaylocians that helped me empty out my old shop. (Dead Shaper, Aloaf, Claire, Synergy Todd, AJ, McGibb, SurfTeach).
2009 is the year to get back to our roots of core surfing.
The rest will just have to fall into place!
it was 23 cents in Venezula
DEAD
By the way when I was in Venzuelua this year the taxi driver filled up his empty Ford Explorer for less than $5.00?
If someone wanted to make some money you can buy up gas guzzlers here in California and ship them to Venzuelua
and do well even after you pay import duties. I don’t have that much energy to do that however if I was younger and
single I woud go for it.
Gas guzzlers in South America? Hmmmm. I recall many years ago being told that people driving their cars to South America had to post a bond on their vehicles to prevent them from selling them for big bucks. Maybe that isn’t the case any more?
I agree that there are a lot of people in and around the surf industry that work hard and deserve success for all their effort. To demonize someone aspiring to be a success and provide for themselves and/or their family just doesn’t make sense.
What I find curious is how many people that had made money in some other type of business decided to take some of that money and go into the surfboard business. It defies common sense; maybe we should liken it to a dot commer making a ton of money, or a newly endowed trust funder going to Vegas and trying their luck? Are they doing this for a genuine love of the sport or the perception that they will acquire some sort of prestige?
Nothing could be further from the truth. If you look at the industry in a historical sense, you would find certain bright times in the board building industry before it became a vehicle to launch clothing companies. Maybe we lacked a level of sophistication until the ‘Duke Boyd’s’ of the world came about…coming off the success of Hang Ten sportswear looking for an encore that ultimately ended up developing Lightning Bolt into a sportswear player making the rounds at M.A.G.I.C. (Men’s Apparel Guild in California), S.I.A. (ski show) NAMBS (NY) and eventually ASR (Action Sports Retailer).
I’m not saying this was wrong…I only recount it because I was there as a buyer and willing participant. Surfboards by themselves couldn’ really drive the machine that would make an industry…same goes for snow skiis and other such similar sports. Case in point, you just don’t see C.I. or T&C or SurfTech putting up $100K for contests left and right, do you?
The money comes from the rag business, and the spark that lights the fire to identify with surfing comes from the surfers and what they choose to ride. I grew up in an era where surfshops offered surfboards, wetusits, accessories then lifestyle clothing designed for surfers by surfers…sadly, it’s different now; I don’t see surfboards in my local Pac Sun.
I dont wear those rags.
A car or even caffienated beverages have more to do with my surfing lifestyle than a t-shirt,sandals or a pair of trunks.
But hey they’ve made money. Its funny how our US lifestyle
has made seemingly non-starter, dumbshite ideas into moneymakers in the last 30-40 years!
Actually there used to be more substance to the rags (clothes) then there probably is now.
I grew up around surfshops and started my own when I was still in high school. I was only 17, graduated early from HS in January and with a partner started a little hole in the wall shop in the old downtown section of Goleta. I immediately enrolled in college and got a 2S deferment to avoid getting drafted and shipped off to Vietnam.
After a couple years our business closed, and I was asked to work at Surf N Wear, which was the main shop in Santa Barbara other than Yater’s which was a board’s only place. Channel Islands was just starting to develop as a retail entity.
The bonafide stuff that developed from surfwear in a clothing sense was the advent of trunks that allowed freedom of leg movement for surfers that had larger than normal upper thighs. Surf trunks needed more leg room than the usual cuts that tended to bind up when surfing.
Many people still recall the rise of Quiksilver Boardshorts that caught on by Aussie surfers taking extra boardshorts to sell on their annual winter pilgrimages to Hawaii’s North Shore. The trunks were an instant success with roomy scallop cut legs and the two snap waist trim. From Hawaii, these boardshorts ended up in the hands of locals, Brazil Nuts, Peruvians, Kiwis, Californians and East Coasters as well as Japanese and everyone else that was on the scene at that time. After a few winters the design and label had spread around the world of surfing.
Although Quiksilver was acknoweldged for this paricular breakthrough in surfing swimtrunk design, Duke Boyd told me he had tried the same exact design several years before and it didn’t catch on. He said he got the idea from…true story…a women’s pants design made in France. When I thought about it, it kinda made sense…a trim waist with two snaps and roomy upper legs which anatomically are correct for women…and also developed surfer’s thighs like Tom Carroll’s.
What else is in the mainstream today that can directly be attributed to surfers? I remember a traveling Aussie that came into O’neill’s Surfshop in 1980 with the first pair of sheepskin boots I had ever seen…all he had to do was get me to try them on and I immediately bought all he had. Now look at Uggs…
These are just a couple examples of contributions that came up through the ranks of surfshops before being embraced by the mainstream population. Probably stuff that you wouldn’t be caught dead in. I remember asking Greenough (who always went barefoot) what he did if he was in snow, and he said “I’ve got a pair of Uggs I wear”.
Not to mention:
Huge advances in wetsuit warmth, comfort, flexibility durability.
Improved materials for swimsuits and sunwear/resortwear including SPF protection, comfort, drying, cooling.
Improved sun care products that last longer in the water and prolonged exposure to sun.
Ear and eye protection due to glare and reflection in and aexposure to wind and water.
Anatomically improved sandals and related casual footwear.
Improved epoxy and polyester resins and reinforcements, both structurally and environmentally.
Your asscessments are pretty spot on! You blow my mind.
This year coming 2009 is going to be so interesting. By summer the surf Industry will be transform into some different than we know today.
A lot if the transformation is not only the economic situation but the technical advancements to our craft. There will be a powershift of major porportions.
Too bad Alvin toffler doesn’t surf. Image his writings about the fate of the surf industry?
Forgive me I read too much!
Howzit Ambrose, Quick sold the Dolphin house in Hanalei just recently so things must be tough for them. Aloha,Kokua
The ASP World Tour both the WQS and the WCT will be affected.
2009?
PRO Surfing will need mainstream sponsers to stay alive!
I hear from people VERY in the know that it’s just bidding for the carcass now.
So have I!
Nike = Hurley/Quik
Consolidations survivor merges (RUMOR PHASE)!
NIKE TOUR 2009?
…designed by surfers for surfers"…hmmm
I dont see that anymore
I have customers who leaves tractions pads to glue on his new boards and you read the instructions…all wrong (like sand with 220 or more grit, put acetone, etc all for a new surface…) and there s sentences like “made by surfers for surfers”
the leashes…check most leashes
badly designed and poorly constructed
with hard plastics besides the rail saver??!
also I read “made by surfers…”
what kind of surfers?
dumb surfers?
businessmen-without a clue-surfers?
Who really knows?
Time will tell of their fate.
It sucks to work for something for years and have it cave in regardless of what industry it is in.
As far as the instructions labels you speak of, I’ve noticed stuff Like that too. Except that even the English use wasn’t right. This isn’t talking about the common every day misuse of “me” instead of “I”…that’s everywhere now…people have become semi-literate at best…“me and John went to Disneyland”…
…what happened to John and I went to Disneyland? Doesn’t the singular have to work by itself??? In effect, the useage is saying “Me went to Disneyland”.
…maybe what everyone is really saying is “It’s all about me!”
So in that case, who cares if the instructions are wrong and done by illiterates, peons, or morons for that matter…as long as a few CEO’s get their fat ass paychecks and golden parachutes.
Here’s an alternative idea…instead of using a bunch of cheap foreign labor, how about paying people better? Employ Veterans? Disabled? The unemployment in the states just got posted at 7.2% and they are projecting it to hit 9%. The news report I say that reported on said “the good news is the national pay scle went up 5 cents per hour”.
Wow…whippee!
Another gem: “Only a surfer knows the feeling”.
…yes, but in a practical way a leash that has a hard plastic covering the swivel is a no no in my opinion (hit the rails)
even great equipment like Prolite, now is the same not so good product like most brands
so what happened with the choices? what happened with the practical good design? (like a rubber on the swivel on the “old” leashes)
all there…made in a couple of factories over there with different brands
like Quicksilver and other mags crap
and I dunno where to locate a good leash, board bag (check the cushion foam), etc when mine remind useless
Wetsuits?
I have the top of the line of a famous brand…crap wetsuit
hyper marketed crap
what happened with the real board shorts?
so Im pissed off about why only in surfboards rely all the “weight” of changing changing, stagnation, etc
and all other stuff go down hill and no one cares
lucky us that still can make our boards
more gem: “destrua as ondas nao as praias” “destroy the waves not the beach/es”
Hmmm…choice or no choice, that is the question.
A swivel is designed to swivel, seems simple enough?
UH, I have a story to relate about “rail” savers.
One day I was at St. Augustine’s (Ranch). It was not your usual little quickie two turn day…maxing overhead, great direction, many other places working and just three of us out. I had a roundtail…had a new leash with a railsaver, which I never had tried…I just always made a point of tying the rope of the leash so that no rope ran long enough to hit the rail. Well, this outside set came in and I turned around and did a whip around and did a no paddle take off straight down the face, no angle possible…the wave dumped on me…I came up sputtering, and the webbing of the railsaver had crushed my entire roundtail just like some big thumb had pushed on it til the layers caved in and because this was a single fin, the rope coming out each side of the railsaver ripped all the way to the dilled hole thru the fin box.
I got to the board and flipped the thing around as more waves were coming…once I got out side I tried pulling the railsaver and line out of the board but couldn’t get enough of a purchase in the water to do so…I cavitated on a wave ll the way in to the beach and sunk my tail down securely into the sand and ripped the contraption out of my board.
It was the only board I brought that day, so I just tore off any loose flapping cloth and went back out.
It took me quite awhile to accept leashes. Everyone around my friend and I had leashes at Zunzal’s in El Salvador in '72. They thought we were crazy.
Maybe it’s time to buy ‘unstylish’ trunks from someone that makes them domestically, dump the leash and wetusit for some weird domestically made drysuit…or take a lot of niacin?
I ‘grok’ your frustration brother…time for me to go back to my planet.
… but I love to hate that company and the way it does business. If they go, who’s going to replace them as the one we love to hate?
What the hell are the groms going to wear this summer if they can’t get their little Quiky fix? When I see a clothing range marketed with blobs of resin all over it, foam dust in all the pockets and which comes with spare rovings sewn into the linings, I’ll consider that it’s related to surfing until then it’s about the image and the sales and I really should just go out and patent that idea before I find I stumble across epoxy stained t-shirts in airport boutiques… on my planet it seems this may be possible anyway.