SAN DIEGO — Retailers and vendors at ASR Marketplace said they were navigating a treacherous landscape because of the recession-driven evolution of shopping habits and rising production costs.
There is no set road map for stores, which relayed divergent reports on consumer attitudes, sales outlooks and budgets for new merchandise, depending on their locale and focus within the action-sports sector.
“The retail pressure is for prices to stay the same or go down,” said Toby Bost, chief executive officer of La Jolla Group, which owns brands such as O’Neill and Rusty.
Foot traffic at ASR Marketplace — which included the contemporary-centric expo Class@ASR, the skateboarding show Crossroads and an event highlighting surfboards, Sacred Craft — was in line with last year, including about 10,000 attendees at ASR and 8,000 at Class@ASR.
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ASR, which ended a three-day run Aug. 15 at the San Diego Convention Center, was held more than a month earlier than usual. It was squeezed between the Agenda Show, which finished its run a week earlier in Huntington Beach, Calif., and MAGIC Marketplace, which began Tuesday in Las Vegas, to allow companies to receive orders before their deadlines in late August.
Mike Montemurro, a sales representative for Class@ASR exhibitor RVCA, wasn’t pleased with the trade show timing. “You have to depend on the road the way the economy is right now. If you are a road warrior, this is extremely late.” Despite the schedule, ASR drew a range of fashion retailers, specialty surf shops and national chains from American Rag Cie and Hansen’s Surf Shop to Pacific Sunwear of California Inc.
Retailers and brands seized upon opportunities in the market. On the brand side, for example, Quiksilver Inc.’s new juniors line of some 100 styles from around $24 to $88 was fast out of the gate. “We were actually nervous launching in an economy like this, but everyone needs something new,” said Kenna Florie, vice president of sales and marketing for Quiksilver’s women’s division. “The reaction has not just been open, but superenthusiastic.”
On the retail side, examples of new entrants in the marketplace include Odina LLC, which is opening an eco-fashion store in Redondo Beach, Calif., in the fall, and Southern Spears Surf, a surf shop arriving in Galveston, Tex., next spring.
“We had the hurricane [Ike] a couple of years ago, and Galveston bounced back,” said Damien McDonald, who is opening Southern Spears Surf with his wife Anna. “People are going to the beach.”
Heidi Garvey, a buyer for Hansen’s in Encinitas, Calif., said, “I’m going to buy less for spring 2011 than 2010. Overall for the year, we are up, but the summer numbers have been down because of the weather.”
For swimwear, Garvey is mainly sticking with tried-and-true brands such as Roxy, O’Neill, Billabong and L Space. Roxy’s swim lineup indicated a return to its California surfer roots with sun-washed colors and florals, all designed to go back to its sportswear.
Other retailers signaled they were ready to buy new brands and lines after a long period of holding back. Brittany Watson of the Laguna Beach, Calif., surf shop Toes On The Nose said, “Last year, we were really cautious. This year, we are looking at new things.”
At Insight, prices of 40 percent of the brand’s swimwear line were reduced in order for the entry wholesale price to be $27.50, compared with about $30 previously. “We are very fashion-forward, but we are trying to keep it affordable,” said Vanessa Chiu, Insight’s marketing and public-relations manager. Reef’s swimwear prices were also down this season to keep its bikini sets in the competitive $60 retail range.
Craig Stevenson, president of Quiksilver Americas, indicated brands are adjusting to retailers’ needs as they deal with price increases for materials like cotton and constant pressure from fast fashion.
Men’s brands aimed to set themselves apart — and grow sales — with technical boardshorts. Quiksilver combined four-way stretch nylon with a diamond dobby texture in the lining to limit the amount of fabric that touches the skin and can cause a rash. Alpinestars used nanotechnology-based nylon for boardshorts featuring eight-way stretch, sonic welding, heat-sealed pockets and waterproof zippers. Tyson White, Alpinestars’ general merchandise manager for men’s clothing, said the $89.95 retail price doesn’t deter customers, because of the added value. “Technical boardshorts at that price is one of the biggest drivers in boardshorts,” he said.
New categories also represented avenues for growth. Rusty introduced activewear as part of its Wired Series line that integrates washable earphones and jacks for digital music players. The activewear included $21 wholesale sleeveless hooded dresses with back cutouts and $19 sweatpants. T-shirt and hoodie specialist Alternative is leaping into accessories for spring with a new collection retailing for less than $125 designed by Mollie Culligan, creator of the accessories brand Jack Rabbit.
The modern retro trend in men’s wear gained momentum. Short lengths hovered above the knee, and stripes and solid colors were washed down for a weathered effect. Lightning Bolt paid tribute to its Seventies roots by fading the stripes on $24 wholesale men’s blue short-sleeve Henleys and trimming $33 boardshorts at the thigh.
Worn, retro looks and muted colors were important in accessories and women’s garb at Class@ASR, as well. Insight’s spring and summer collections — the first for the brand designed by Laura May — were like a tour of early Nineties cultural flash points, such as the movie “Reality Bites” and music festival Lollapalooza with thigh-skimming paisley and floral-patterned dresses (one is called the Winona for Winona Ryder,) and tissue-thin, rock-inspired T-shirts. “Everything is very washed and is supposed to be very authentic,” Chiu said of the shirts. Watch and handbag brand Nixon, which introduced a high-end collection of bags retailing from $120 to $375, tapped into the demand for worn, vintage designs. Its Sunkissed Sea collection for spring has women’s sea-foam-colored watches for $160 to $500 retail with bands meant to reveal their scratches and chips as they age to become personalized for each customer. “It has that antique-y, customized feel,” said Stephen Chiaro, territory sales coordinator for Nixon.
Art continued to play a big role in design. Prints spanned the gamut from photo-realistic images to hand-drawn art, as created by artists Neil Blender and Avalon Preisendorfer for Vans and Rusty, respectively. Painterly watercolor prints showed at almost every swim line, from junior brands like Body Glove and Lucky Brand to boutique lines such as Vitamin A and Vix.
Sheer, light fabrics contributed to the comfort factor. O’Neill Girls introduced polyester crepe floral, tiered miniskirts accented with crochet waistbands for $22. Roxy added polyester chiffon to its collection with polka-dot racer-back dresses for $26. RVCA’s spring collection featured short, sheer polyester dresses for $27 wholesale and shirts for $22 that were showed layered on top of jersey tanks wholesaling for $11 to $19.
Based on the success of designer T-shirts, such as those produced by Alexander Wang, action-sports companies spruced up the basic T-shirt. Billabong reinvented the T in seven styles for women, including Henleys with dolman sleeves and tanks printed with bullheads, in drapy fabrics such as rayon; wholesale prices are between $11 and $19. Vans added bat wings and darts to a striped, oversize T. Element unveiled 11 T-shirt styles in a premium grouping that’s manufactured in the U.S. out of organic material. Wholesaling from $16 to $25, the styles included a men’s crewneck with three-quarter sleeves and a women’s baggy top with a wide neck.
Though spring isn’t a traditionally strong season for denim, designers incorporated the durable fabric in their collection. Capitalizing on the popularity of chinos, Analog cut the flat-front trousers out of raw indigo denim for a men’s style wholesaling for $35.
For a touch of trompe l’oeil, Roxy screen-printed an image of distressed boyfriend jeans on $23 boardshorts. Nikita Clothing used denim in jumpsuits, for $65 wholesale, and Seventies-inspired, high-waisted shorts for $50 wholesale. Several swim lines, such as Hobie and O’Neill, also used denim-inspired fabrics and hues.
While there has been talk in fashion circles of the skinny reverting to flair in denim, jeans at ASR and Class@ASR were dominated by skinny and skinnier. The brand WESC, which sells denim from $35 to $80 wholesale, launched an even slimmer fit that marketing manager Tracy Anderson described as “like skintight.” To go along with the leg-hugging jeans, he said the brand has seen strength in voluminous Ts such as a $26 style with horizontal stripes.