We have some more photos of Surf Expo, where we saw a good turnout of important retailers and many major brands in attendance.
A lot of the big brands were there, including O’Neill, Billabong, RVCA, Hurley, Reef, Olukai, Body Glove and many others.
In the surfboard section, Surftech drew a lot of attention with its recent deals with Gerry Lopez, Hayden Cox of Hayden Shapes, and Steve Walden.
The Pura Vida booth was absolutely packed most of the show as were brands like Salty Crew and Corkcicle.
And some brands returned to the show after a long absence, like Element.
Notable brands not in attendance included Vans, Quiksilver, Roxy, Volcom and Rip Curl.
We also learned of some personnel moves at the show:
- Courtney Kincaid, formerly with O’Neill, is now at Xcel Wetsuits
- Bill Gage, formerly at Neff and LRG, is now at Avid
- Brian Garofalow, former of Element, is now at Igloo
- Paul Hoobler, formerly of Maui Nix, is now at Costa
- Sales veteran Alex Messmer is now at Simbi
Here are photos from Day 2 of the show below.
See photos from Day 1 here.
See photos from the VIP dinner here.
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Simbi bracelets
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A one piece from Power 2 the Flower, which is owned by a company that does a big private label swim business
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Retailers were excited about Power 2 the Flower swim styles and prices
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A Power 2 the Flower one piece and coverup worn with high-waisted denim
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We saw several excited retailers in this booth. They liked the style, quality and prices of Power 2 the Flower. The flower top, for example, wholesales for $16.
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Element returned to the show with Matthew Ward, Donny Barley and Dave Rosenberger
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Element has a new collaboration with National Geographic
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The Corkcicle booth was super busy at the show
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This toy, which rides waves, is a hot seller at McKevlin's Surf Shop in South Carolina. Kids get excited by it and it gives parents more time to shop.
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Surfer Dudes are a top selling toy at some surf shops
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Pukka had computer stations and worked with customers to design hats on the floor
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Retailers designed hats at the Pukka booth
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Fishing lifestyle brand Avid has beefed up its staff: Charlie Kiesa, Bill Gage, Rick Banta, Bob Rohmann and Founder Tim Johnson
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Avid styles
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Brian Garofalow at his new home at Igloo
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CJ Hobgood meeting fans in the Igloo booth
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Body Glove's new sustainable activewear collection
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Nick Meistrell of Body Glove
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Jeff Booth of Flojos, Layne Losee of Salty Crew, Dale Grimes of Tyler's
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Everything But Water buyers in the Tori Praver booth
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Katin was busy at the show