Dunlaps and Gavin on changes at Podium

Brian, Kevin and Mike Dunlap and Tim Gavin give us an update on all the changes at Podium Distribution, including the addition of Paul Gomez as CEO.

Podium has the Matix, DVS and Diamond Footwear brands under its umbrella.

Tell us what is happening with Podium. It seems that the economic downturn was particularly hard on the company?

We have been through a restructuring process over the last year that was tough, but has led us to a much better place. This process forced us to dig deep and really identify our greatest strengths and weaknesses. We have added some new pieces to our management team and can't be more excited about the future.

DVS and Matix are very well positioned to do something special and we are implementing a game plan to do just that. We have also added the Diamond Footwear line which has tons of potential and opens up a new channel of distribution for us.

What happened with Lakai?

We sold our shares to Girl. Lakai is a great brand and we had a great run with it for the last 12 years. There came a time were we simply felt it was best to focus all our resources on our other brands. We wish all the folks at Lakai the best of luck in the future.

There are rumors that Podium has cut its surf program. Is this true? Are there changes to the surf program?

Absolutely not. Everyone seems to be telling the same story in surf and we are just going to take a step back and look at it through a different lens. We have some incredible riders and we just need to position them in a way that the brands, retailers, and athletes all succeed. We want to bring a fun and fresh new perspective with a "less is more" approach. We will continue to make tweaks in the future that will benefit us and the retailer in the long run.

See Page 2 for more about Paul Gomez, Diamond Footwear, working with Billabong in Australia, etc.