Report and Updated Photos from Surf Expo

expo23 LukeMesanko ShaunOMeara GregMesanko

Luke Mesanko of Wanderlust Land & Sea in New Jersey, left, Duvin's Shaun O'Meara (in black), and Greg "Grog" Mesanko, who owns a high-volume Billabong store in New Jersey - Photo by SES

By Tiffany Montgomery | Published Jan 8, 2023

There was an interesting dichotomy at Surf Expo last week. While the industry’s largest surf brands were absent because their order deadlines had passed, a wide variety of other brands were more than happy to fill the gap and meet with the key accounts that showed up looking for both fresh brands and ideas for their retail floors.

We definitely saw a steady stream of important core industry accounts meeting with brands such as Salty Crew, Vissla, Katin, Dark Seas, Roark, Rhythm, Duvin and more. And, retailers told us they are looking to expand diversification options as they wait to see what happens with the pending Boardriders sale.

For example, every time we walked by the Salty Crew booth, we saw a key industry retailer having serious discussions with the Salty Crew sales team.

Brand executives told us they were more than happy to get more time with retailers both at the show itself and at dinners at night since the big brands weren’t there to dominate the time.

The other theme that jumped out to us after a few days on the show floor was just how many different brands comprise the surf industry. While so much of the focus usually goes on the big apparel guys, there’s also a wealth of accessories, hardgoods, footwear and other brands that are important to retailers, and those brands were well represented at the show.

Below, see updated SES photos from the first two days of Surf Expo.

Derek Grauer and Chad Dime of DIFF
The busy DIFF Eyewear booth
Vissla's Dimitri Kjos and Paul Naude
Donald Brink of Brink Surf and Matt Biolos of Lost
Donald Brink and Matt Biolos are releasing a line based on their winning design for the Mick Fanning Electric Acid Surfboard Test put on by Stab
Team Salty Crew: Tom Ruiz, Jared Lane, Jason Shelton, CJ Hobgood
Ryan Warner, Steph Graves and Zoe Ford of Rusty
Lauren Bertolino and Derek Miller of Fair Harbor, which retailers tell us sells well
Michael Berg and Bryan Parks of Misfit
We loved the Misfit booth
Tyler Brown and Sam Jacobson of 17th Street and Elliot McCallister and Snowy Lonsway of Electric
Drew Dolkas and Kaylee Fisher in the Roark booth
Lennon Dobbin Annis, Veda Cropper, Caroline Taber, Morgan Logue, and Dustin Henry of Cinnamon Rainbows Surf Shop, Cory Higgins of Jetty, and Stephen Milata of Cinnamon Rainbows
Jillian Leeman showing the line at Brixton
Sean Fleuriau, who is now leading sales for Rhythm, and Anthony Marques
South End Surf Shop reviewing Rhythm swim
Austin Duvall, Caroline Kirscht and James Lano of Duvin
Duvin has expanded into women's
Team RAEN: Adam Quick, Michelle Croley, Chloe Phaup and Jeremy Heit
Brandon Leibel and Brian Sanders of Sand Cloud, which retailers tell us sells well
Colby Bauer and Trevor Reese of Thread Wallets, a retailer favorite
Thread has expanded into bags
Rich Sanders of Vissla
A busy Vissla and Sisstrevolution booth
Ron Abdel of Jack's, Marty Mathiesen of Oakley, Steve Ward of Haydenshapes, Bobby Abdel of Jack's
Chris Broders and Nick Lhotsky of Dark Seas
Natalie Brushmiller, Bryan Brushmiller and Chauncey Rhodes of Viking Tree Trading Co. in Maryland with Andrew Mercier of Dark Seas
Snowy Lonsway of Electric and Ryan Rush of Party Pants at Capitol Grille
Charlie Setzler, Chris Todd and Michael Darr of Party Pants
Sierra Ford and Brandy Odom of Mountain High Outfitters in Alabama with Christina Freberg of Lotus and Luna
Team Xcel: Jarka Duba, Ian Stewart, Lance Varon, and Courtney Kincaid
Xcel is expanding into boardshorts
Micah Thompson, Rhi Ferman, Andy Hughes and Scott Allan of Puffin Drinkwear, which continues to expand
The Puffin Drinkwear booth
Board Retailers Association Chairman George Leichtweis honors Surf Expo's Roy Turner to mark the 20th anniversary of BRA, which Roy co-founded.
A showing at swimwear brand IMSY, which is known for making suits that stay on while surfing
Elliot Glik of Glik's, Carlos Pardo and Coco Tihanyi of Surf Diva, Jim Glik of Glik's, Glenn Brumage, Bruce Cromartie of BC Surf & Sport, Dave Nash of Sun Diego, and George Leichtweis of Modern Skate and Surf
Gary Sanders of Maui Nix, with Erin Bouchard, Scott Bouchard, Don Dyer and Joey Santley of I-SEA
Steve Ward of Haydenshapes, Tony Giordano of Ocean Hut, and Merrick Cunningham of Haydenshapes
John Nakajima of Hi-Tech, Tom Ruiz of Salty Crew, Kim Ball of Hi-Tech, Jason Shelton of Salty Crew
Hari Mari Owner Lila Stewart, right, showing the line
Garrett Turk of Dickies, Rod Tomlinson of Surf Expo, and Josh Hansen of Hansen's
Kevin Morris of Heritage Surf and Eric Mehlberg of Electric
Bob Rohmann of AVID, Emma White Pryor of Ron Jon, and Rick Banta of AVID
Coastal Edge rolled deep: D Nachnani, Bunty Lakhani, Stephanie Nachnani, Allison Moore, Madeline Egbert
BN3TH product
Matt Keenan and Dez Price of BN3TH
LG Shaw of WRV, Jeff Booth of Distant Local, Charlie Setzler of Party Pants, Kevin Morris of Heritage Surf
Sydney Gutierrez, Eric Carlson, Eric Dranginis and Will Randall-Goodwin of Sito
Freddie Sipowicz and Jimbo Gaskin of Lost and George Karamitos of Maui Nix
Dan Genco and Gregg Shaw of Shwood
Eddie Doyle and Kyle Sivadge of Costa
Lyndon Cabellon of Rivvia Projects
Joe Frizzelle of Country Club Surf Club
GOT BAG: Matthias Paisdzior, Jay Sheldon, Case Davis, and Dara Dawson
Mark Neustadter with Andrew Traa of Heritage Surf
Oakley and Costa apparel team: Paul Hinson, Gus Bentancourt, Ryan O'Connor
Surf Expo's Roy Turner and JR Rosenberg and Jerry LeBlanc of Lancaster Management
Glenn Brumage and Peter Townend
The Pura Vida booth
Smith had a big presence at the show
Carver Skateboards
Albert Shim of Martha
The Baja Llama trailer attracted a lot of attention
The 4Ocean booth was consistently busy
Pukka had a steady stream of traffic
Several brands, including Sun Bum, Thread and Pura Vida, have created a communal hangout area at Surf Expo