Surf Expo got underway Thursday in Orlando.
While the show was smaller than in pre-pandemic times and some retailers cancelled at the last minute, nearly every major brand was there and we saw key industry retailers throughout the day. We also saw lots of line showings and order writing going on.
We talked to lots of happy people because business in 2021 has been VERY GOOD for nearly every brand and retailer we talked to.
Most retailers said sales this summer beat last year’s numbers, which they didn’t think was possible given the hardgoods boom at surf and skate shops last year.
Some brands told me they are seeing prebooks for Spring ’22 that are coming in 40% above this year’s levels.
Everyone’s biggest concerns, of course, is the supply chain and making sure they have enough goods coming in on time to take advantage of the demand. Trying to figure out how long the demand will last and forecasting orders is also a big challenge.
Some retailers were also disappointed that a few brands only sent reps rather than top management executives, however the majority sent executive decision makers.
Overall, it was great to see everyone again. We have lots of photos from the show floor below in our slide show.
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Jacob Uhland and Sandy Schwarzenbach of Havaianas and Rod Tomlinson of Surf Expo
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Frankie Senese of Rainbow and George Karamitos of Maui Nix
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Former Quiksilver CEO Bob McKnight
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Erin Bouchard and Deanna Jackson of Billabong with Gary Rubin of Ron Jon
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Don Dyer of I-SEA and Dave Nash of Sun Diego
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Rachel Dorsey, Allison Singer, Becky Clark and Palmer Harbuck of I-SEA
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Dimtri Kjos of Vissla and Carly Cottrell of Island Water Sports
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A masked model in the swim area
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We heard buzz about the new sunglass brand Sito at the show
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Eric Carlson of Sito
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Tyler Brown and Ciara Orrell of 17th Street in the Quiksilver booth with Brad Harrell
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Nate Smith of Boardriders and Leigh Tonai of HIC
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Happy Hour at the Rip Curl booth and WSL lounge
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Thread Founder Colby Bauer
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Retailers have told us Thread wallets and lanyards sell well
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Dale Rhodes and Mac Beu of Katin
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Kristi Steinfeld of Havaianas, Virgin Islands retailer Alex Poisson and Sandy Schwarzenbach of Havaianas
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Lila Stewart, the founder of Hari Mari
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Tom Brown and Sam Foster of 17th Street Surf Shop
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Bruce Cromartie and Dan Dodarell of BC Surf & Sport
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Hawaii retailers came to the show, including Kim Ball of Hi-Tech and Eddie Crawford of Surf n' Sea
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Cory Higgins of Jetty, which has a nice looking new booth
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Mark Simpson and Dane Zaun of IPD
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Shawnna Graham of Poplar Pointe Marine in Virginia checking out trunks at Psycho Tuna with Patricia Thornton
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Eric Fagan and Dan Hartman of RVCA
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Jeff Booth and Paul Gaucher of Flojos with Enrique Ledo of La Gran Via
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Tim Mack and Alex Schulze of 4Ocean and Bill Bettencourt, who is consulting with the brand
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Josh Rogers of RPM
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Working out at the RPM booth
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Christina Freberg of Lotus and Luna who were swamped
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David Gralnik and Pepe Landa of Boardriders. Pepe joined a few months ago as Director of the International business in Latin America.
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Seth McKinney and Mark Simpson of IPD
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Pete Censoplano of Sun Diego, Rich Sanders of Vissla, Dave Nash and Patrick Whinnery of Sun Diego
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Debby Anker Morris, formerly of Tilly's, is helping out her husband, Brett Morris, at the show
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John Dickinson and Michael Letow of Flojos
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Susan Duvall and Sammy Duvall of Curl
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Deanna Jackson of Billabong, Bob Rohmann of Avid, Paul Harvey of Rip Curl, and Jason Shelton of Billabong
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Scott Bouchard of Billabong showing the line
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Eric Thomas of Quiet Storm in Ft. Lauderdale and Nate Smith of Boardriders
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Lots of action at the Peter Grimm booth
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Mark Metzger and Chili McCabe of Gotcha
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Sasha Hartloff, Mike Reilly and Nate Smith of Boardriders
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The Sun Bum booth
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Amy Dufour of Surf Expo, Shannon Zseleczky of Shop Eat Surf and Roy Turner of Surf Expo
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A Ride Nature display
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Fishing brand Huk had a huge booth
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Stephanie Nachnani and Bunty Lakhani of Coastal Edge
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Steven Fisher and Kathy Wilkie of Surf Expo
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Bill Gage of PSD
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The Rhythm booth
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Assembling skateboards at the Ride Nature booth
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The Tommy Bahama booth
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The Repreve booth/truck
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A skate ramp at Surf Expo
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The Baja Llama trailer