While in Florida for Surf Expo, SES stopped by large industry account Ron Jon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach to walk the flagship store with Ron Jon President and COO Michele Goodwin and General Merchandise Manager Karen Klimkiewicz.

Ron Jon operates a total of 13 stores in five states. The Cocoa Beach store is the largest at 52,000 square feet.

SES talked with Michele and Karen about overall business trends, what brands are performing especially well, and why they are concerned about how shoppers will react to the multiple price increases that have come through on branded products since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michele and Karen also shared some eye-popping numbers about the Ron Jon private label business.

Brands That Ron Jon is Excited About

Billabong is by far the biggest brand partner for Ron Jon, thanks to the large Billabong men’s section in a prime location on the main floor of the Cocoa Beach store.

The section is very coveted by brands and has changed over the years – it was dedicated to Quiksilver for years, then Ron Jon moved Hurley into the space. The section went to Billabong about two years ago.

Customers have responded favorably to the move.

“It’s been very, very good for us, and very, very good for Billabong,” Michele said. “It’s been one of our most successful partnerships.”

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  Inside the Billabong Men's section

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  Boardshorts in the Billabong Men's section

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  Quiksilver, O'Neill and Rip Curl at Ron Jon

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  Volcom and Hurley at Ron Jon

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  Fox at Ron Jon

Billabong also holds the No. 1 spot in women’s, and sells very well, Karen said

Other men’s brands such as Quiksilver, Rip Curl, O’Neill, are staples and “tried and true,” Karen said. Volcom and Fox are not necessarily growth brands but sell to their inventory and serve a slice of the Ron Jon customer base.

Karen is most excited about the traction Ron Jon is seeing from newer brands they have brought in.

Salty Crew has been such a hit, they are creating a dedicated section for the brand in the Cocoa Beach store this spring and will move the brand into the fishing area, alongside Avid and Salt Life.

“Salty Crew has done extremely well for us – it really blew up in a year,” Karen said. “They are great partners, and have been great to work with as we try to up the business.”

Ron Jon also carries Salty Crew in women’s and kids’, and the brand “is stellar across all,” Karen said.

In women’s, Salty Crew T-shirts are popular, especially the fish taco style.

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  Salty Crew Men's at Ron Jon

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  Ron Jon is expanding Salty Crew Men's, which will get its own section this spring

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  Salty Crew Women's T-shirts are selling well

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  This fish taco Salty Crew crop for women is a top seller

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  Salty Crew Kids'

Another hit has been Katin, which continues to earn more space in the store.

“Katin is really big for us right now, it’s really on trend,” Karen said. “It’s one of our biggest success stories of last year so we are continuing to grow it.”

RVCA is also “really on the upswing for us,” Karen said, and the RVCA/Ron Jon collabs are popular.

Other brands that are on the rise include Jetty and Dark Seas.

“We’re really excited about these up-and-coming brands,” Karen said. “Our belief is that as they continue to outperform, some of them can overtake some of the traditional brands. We like having the up-and coming-brands because other surf shops don’t carry them as much.”

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  Katin was one of Ron Jon's biggest success stories last year

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  Jetty and Dark Seas are also on the rise

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  RVCA is becoming an important brand for the store

Accessories Standouts

Michele and Karen raved about how well Thread sells. The brand makes lanyards, wallets, lip balm holders, and other accessories.

“Our buyer jumped on Thread early and we can’t keep it in stock,” Karen said.

It sells so well that Ron Jon has created a Thread wall in Cocoa Beach, that they are constantly restocking.

“I can’t believe how much volume this wall did in one year – it’s mind boggling,” Karen said. Ron Jon carries Thread in every store, with the biggest presence in Cocoa Beach and Disney Springs.

“They are a great brand to work with,” she said.

Ron Jon is also very excited about Sand Cloud, which makes beach towels and blankets.

“It’s a give-back brand, and it’s done really, really well,” Karen said. “We’ve just put it in four more stores. They are great to work with, and the customer loves it. They have a sand-resistant fabric they use for blankets or towels.”

The Cocoa Beach store also carries a ton of Dakine crossbody bags.

Drinkware blew up two years ago, and while it’s not trending up now, Ron Jon is trying to hold on to the volume and offers lots of Yeti, including a Ron Jon/Yeti collab.

Pura Vida continues to sell well, and Ron Jon has expanded the offering. For a while, Pura Vida moved into apparel, and it sold really well for Ron Jon, but the brand has backed away from the program, Karen said.

Other jewelry brands such as 4ocean continue to sell strongly.

The Rise of Pit Viper, Hey Dude

Ron Jon carries a huge selection of sunglasses in different styles and price points. The biggest trend this year has been the rise of Pit Viper, Karen said.

“We brought them in in June and July, and the sales keep growing. We now have them in every store but two.”

“It’s really that outfit for the young guy – volleys, an open shirt, Hey Dudes and Pit Viper glasses,” Michele said.

The shoe category has been growing steadily for Ron Jon, and Hey Dude is driving a lot of that success.

“We ran out of Hey Dude inventory last year,” Karen said. “It’s turning 20 times a year, which is so good, it’s bad. We’re working this year to get ahead of it. We placed three big deliveries that we committed to up front. We needed to be proactive with our approach – we just got a shipment and we already need more. …I think it’s a trend. I’m like please, let’s keep it going.”

Reef is the No. 2 brand in footwear, and continues to be a staple people want, she said.

A Replacement for Natural Life

In souvenir and gifts, Ron Jon has found a brand to replace Natural Life, a previous hot seller that pulled away from wholesale. Ron Jon has found good success with Karma, which offers a variety of accessories and home goods with positive sayings.

“It looks similar, but the margin is better and the vendor is so pleasant to work with,” Karen said.

Ron Jon Private Label

Private label accounts for 50% of total sales company-wide, and T-shirts are the biggest category.

However, Ron Jon continues to expand into more fashion categories such as boardshorts, volleys and wovens.

“We offer great price point alternatives to the brands,” Michele said. “There will always be that branded customer, but as we get a little better on the fashion side of it, we will be able to offer more options for our customers.”

Ron Jon is building off the migration to volleys from boardshorts, and has divided the buy 50/50.

“We think this can become a big business for us – especially with the price increases with the brands,” Karen said. “Branded boardshorts are $60-$70 now, and you can get one of ours for $30.”

Classic styles of Ron Jon T-shirts are the juggernaut of the private label business, with the classics accounting for about $13 million in sales annually. Three of those classic SKUs generate $8 million of that revenue.

“It’s almost hard to comprehend how big that business is,” Michele said. “But that’s why you see Ron Jon T-shirts everywhere.”

While most brands have raised prices twice since COVID, Ron Jon has kept its private label prices the same.

Michele and Karen see a big opportunity to grow the private label business this year because of the price differential.

“For example, one of our best-selling, branded sweatshirts used to be $54.95, now it’s $70. Our best selling short was $39.99, and now it’s $50,” Karen said. “Vans Classics have gone up $15 since COVID. Brands have pretty much raised prices across the board (twice), and I wonder when customers are going to say, ‘enough.’ “

Swim and Hardgoods

Swim sales for both guys’ and women’s dropped last year.

The silver lining in swim was private label, and Ron Jon is shifting money out of branded product and into private label this year.

“We have amazing price points – branded swim has gone up 20% to 30%,” Karen said. “A bikini is now $150 in some cases. We think that shift will help us.”

When it comes to branded swim, Roxy is the No. 1 brand in juniors.

Sales of hardgoods fell about 30% in both skate and surf, and the category continues to come down from pandemic highs.

2022 Results, 2023 Plan

Ron Jon’s 2022 revenue increased 5% over 2021, which was a record year. 2020 had been a record year before that.

The business trends during the year were varied, however, with Q1 very strong and Q4 very soft.

“It was a mixed bag,” Michele said. “Geographically, the Northeast had a harder year than the South. Disney was on fire, with double-digit increases, and helped drive the overall increase. I don’t know how we kept up. Cocoa Beach also had a good year.”

Margins held up, and Ron Jon is seeing inventory turns come down to more manageable levels. “When you are turning six, seven, eight times, it’s hard to catch up,” Michele said.

Overall, traffic was up in 2022 which accounted for the increase in sales. Conversion rates were about the same, and the average sale price was about the same.

“We are entering 2023 cautious,” Michele said. “We are going to be ready to chase if we need to, and we’re not getting too heavy in inventory. Luckily, most Ron Jon product has a long shelf life. Nimble is the word for 2023. We think we’ll have a good year, but we’ll have to pay close attention.”

Michele said they are planning 2023 revenue flat. The company does not plan to open more stores this year.

Ron Jon is scheduling a big remodel of its store on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, however. They are actually building a new store behind the current store, and will knock down the old one when the new one is ready.

“We’re sitting on what we have,” Michele said. “We really don’t have a lot of markets that we still want to open. And we are not under pressure to open more – we are very fortunate that our owner and board are very happy with our financials.”

Ron Jon’s big event of the year, the Beach ‘N Boards Fest, hits Cocoa Beach March 8-15. The event, which industry brands are involved in, includes surf contests, wake demos, skate activations, fishing tournaments, beach yoga, open water swims, volleyball tournaments, and SUP races.

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  Hey Dude was a key driver of footwear sales in 2022

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  Ron Jon T-shirts are a private label juggernaut

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  More from the Karma brand

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  Roxy is the No. 1 swim brand for juniors at Ron Jon

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  O'Neill Women's and Rip Curl share the No. 2 spot after Billabong Women's

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  Ron Jon carries a large skateboard selection

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  Billabong Women's is the No. 1 women's brand at Ron Jon

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  A view of the footwear section from above

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  A shopper checks out Thread

Editor’s Note: Get a business update and read about what’s moving at other Florida retailers, including Quiet Storm, Island Water Sports, and Ocean Magic.