Eco-Friendly ASR Takes Place in San Diego

Jan 27 2008 / San Diego, CA
The Action Sports Retail (ASR) Trade Expo kicked off its three day industry trade show at the San Diego Convention Center on Thursday with more than 375 companies on hand to show their wares to buyers from around the world. The focus of ASR in January is for fall and back to school and brands like like Billabong, Quiksilver, DC Shoes, Element, Emerica, Etnies, éS, FOX, Hotsuits Wetsuit Heaters, Hurly, Jed Noll Surfboards, NHS, Metal Mulisha, Nixon, Ogio, O'Neill, Roxy, Sector 9 Skateboards, Skateone, Vans, Volcom, Zoo York were on hand.

Being "green" continues to be a priority for the action sports industry as ASR partnered with the Action Sports Environmental Coalition to showcase the industry's focus on creating more sustainable products and ways to operate their businesses. One example of this was a new skateboard line from Santa Cruz named "Save Us." Joel Ellis from NHS, the parent company of Santa Cruz said, "The 'Save Us' line is dedicated to endangered animals. Santa Cruz is giving one dollar from the sales of each board in this line to the Endangered Species at the World Wildlife Foundation." There are six boards in the "Save Us" series featuring designs of elephants, pythons, the Blue Macaw, Cotton Headed Tamarin, leopards and Poison Dart Frogs.

ASR Photo Gallery    Check out photos from the ASR Trade Show January '08, including Joel Ellis from NHS (pictured). View Gallery from Thursday> View Gallery from Friday>

Sector 9 Skateboards has a campaign called "Push Don't Pollute" which focuses on embracing skateboarding.  The campaign targets schools and colleges which may prohibit skateboarding with the goal of allowing people to skateboard vs. drive.

FOAM Magazine sponsored the ASR Runway show with the theme being "The Breakfast Club: Return of the High School Clique."  FOAM Associate Publisher Quyenzi Pham said, "We featured clothes and products from many companies including Billabong, Volcom, Vans, Roxy and Split."

As usual, the athlete turnout was high for ASR, despite the X Games taking place in Aspen.  On hand were the Metal Mulisha's Brian Deegan and Ronnie Faisst; skateboarder Christian Hosoi; BMX rider Bryan "Biz" Jordan; legendary surfers Greg Noll and Mickey Munoz; and Maverick's big wave surfer Jeff Clark.  Some of the industry reps on hand were CJ Olivares from FUEL TV; Sector 9's Dennis Telfer and Steve Lake; Aaron Favero from Ogio and Ross Garrett and Monica Steinberg from FOAM Magazine.

ASR Day Two

The action on the floor of the converntion center continued on Friday, the second day of the show, with Deegan back with Metal Muisha teammate Todd Potter.  "Rob & Big's" Christopher "Big Black" Boykin also made an appearance along with non-action sports personalities like rappers Three 6 Mafia and Kat Von D star of TLC's "LA Ink."

Several buyers and sellers commented on the economy's impact on ASR. Cary Bosacki, a buyer for Pharmacy Boardshop in Victorville, CA who has attended many ASRs over the years, said, "I'm surprised at the number of people here with the economy the way it is."  While several exhibitors felt it was not as crowded due to retailers sending fewer people to this show.

Jeff Booth, National Sales Manager for Billabong said they have been busy at the Billabong booth, "especially with the Latin America and Mexico markets.  We are also showing our snow line for next year."

Aaron Kim from the Imperial Skate Shop in Gallatin, TN was excited about some of the new products.  "I'm stoked about Sole Tech's new shoes that are coming out, all of the lines are really good," he said.  "I'm also hyped up on Blueprint Skateboards.  Their new line is cool."

Exhibitors also commented on the continued growth of action sports. 

Mark Nardelli, Brand Manager for Zoo York, said, "The action sports market is starting to have a major impact on mainstream America."

Ronnie Goodnow from Blueprint Skateboards added, "There are still core skaters and shops but there are more mall stores.  The lines are starting to get blurred between what is core and what is not."

The number of new products a company launches at ASR varies widely depending on the size of the company.  Jed Noll from Jed Noll Surfboards based in Santa Ana, CA said, "we are rolling out 12 new surf boards here at the show."  Larger companies may launch hundreds of new products since they do hard goods like skateboards and soft goods like clothes and shoes.

Industry turnout on Friday included Graham Stapelberg, head of marketing for Billabong; Steve Clark, Billabong team manager; Richard Graham, founder of Surfer Magazine and Lightning Bolt; Michael Furukawa, head of marketing for Skateone; Adam Sullivan, senior editor for TransWorld Business; skateboarder Ryan Smith; and Volcom's Becky Peralta and Bonnie Kuntz.

ASR ended Saturday, January 27.  The next ASR show is ASR Holiday which takes place May 28 and 28 in Costa Mesa, CA.