by Board Retailers Association | Dec 9, 2019 | Industry, News, Point of Sale, Private Label, Resources, Retail Strategy, Skateboard, Snowboard, SUP, Surf, Trade Shows, Vision, Wake Surf, Wakeboard, Women's Market
Such an outstanding event. Massive thanks to the Distinguished Panel and Supporting Event Partners including Surfing Heritage and Culture Center, Locally, Solite Boots, Action Watch, Exchange Collective and Sambazon as well as all of the Retailers, Brands and Vendors that attended this outstanding Regional Retailer Roundtable Event. Check out the Highlight Reel by clicking below. Filmed and Edited by Noah Schuler. The next BRA Regional Roundtable will happen at Surf Expo in the Learning Lounge on January 9, 2020 at 4 pm. For additional details on this and other upcoming BRA events, click:...
by Board Retailers Association | Nov 25, 2019 | Industry, News, Private Label, Resources, Retail Strategy, Skateboard, Snowboard, SUP, Surf, Trade Shows, Wakeboard, Women's Market
The Board Retailers Association (BRA), a non-profit organization representing independently owned surf, skate, snow, sup and wake retailers, announces the release of the Recap video that showcases the recent BRA Regional Retailer Roundtable Event which was held earlier this month at the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center (www.shacc.org) in San Clemente. Noah Schuler of Schuler Films captured, edited and produced this remarkable recap video: BRA would like to sincerely thank Glenn Brumage and the epic staff at Surfing Heritage and Culture Center for hosting the event as well as each of the Supporting Event Partners including Solite Boots, Exchange Collective, Locally, Action Watch and Sambazon. Board sport specialty retailers from throughout Southern California and beyond as well as board sport related manufacturers and trade organizations participated in this open forum solutions-oriented discussion about the issues and opportunities facing our industry today and in the future. This event marked the first of many BRA Regional Retailer Roundtables, which will serve as a template for more of these discussions throughout the country (in addition to trade shows) on how the manufacturers and retailers can work together to continue to support the board sports that we are all passionate about. Southern California is the epicenter of board sport culture and Surfing Heritage and Culture Center served as the ideal location for this initial event. BRA Chairman, George Leichtweis of Modern Skate & Surf, moderated a panel of key manufacturers reps and BRA retailers / Board members. The distinguished group of panelists included Coco Tihanyi (Surf Diva and BRA), Sean Smith (SIMA), Teddy Schiavoni (Locally and former Chairman of National Ski and Snowboard Retailers Association),...
by Board Retailers Association | Nov 21, 2019 | Industry, News, Snowboard, Sustainability
Eddie Pells, Associated Press and Dan D’Ambrosio, Burlington Free Press Whether you had a gold medal hanging from your neck, were just learning how to stand on a snowboard, or were one of those flustered skiers wondering where all the kids in the baggy pants were coming from, you knew the name “Burton.” Jake Burton Carpenter, the man who changed the game on the mountain by fulfilling a grand vision of what a snowboard could be, died Wednesday night of complications stemming from a relapse of testicular cancer. He was 65. In an email sent to the staff at Burton, CEO John Lacy called Burton “our founder, the soul of snowboarding, the one who gave us the sport we love so much.” Carpenter was not the inventor of the snowboard, but 12 years after Sherman Poppen tied together a pair of skis with a rope to create what was then called a “Snurfer,” the 23-year-old entrepreneur, then known only as Jake Burton, quit his job in Manhattan, moved back to Vermont and went about dreaming of how far a snowboard might take him. “I had a vision there was a sport there, that it was more than just a sledding thing, which is all it was then,” Burton said in a 2010 interview with The Associated Press. For years, Burton’s snowboards were largely snubbed at resorts — its dimensions too untested, its riders too unrefined, its danger all too real — and many wouldn’t allow them to share the slopes with the cultured ski elite in Colorado or California or, heaven forbid, the Swiss Alps. Read the Burlington Free...
by Board Retailers Association | Aug 22, 2019 | Industry, News, Snowboard, Trade Shows
The November show will not go on, Outdoor Retailer announced on its website on Wednesday. The Winter Market was scheduled for Nov. 5 to 7, but it is now being united with Snow Show slated for Jan. 29 to 31, 2020 in Denver. “We care deeply about our community, and alongside OIA, we’re working to support the diverse, evolving needs of the market in order to help the outdoor and snow industries thrive,” said Marisa Nicholson, Outdoor Retailer senior vice president and show director. “It’s our goal to bring our industry together and provide the most productive platform for success.” Outdoor Retailer held the first November show in 2018 after the outdoor community asked for Winter Market to occur before the buying season. It was previously held in early January and the Snowsports Industries America (SIA) show was later that month. But the first November show was rocky and received mixed reviews. Some said it was perfect timing and the quiet hallways allowed them to get real work done; others said it was a waste of their time and expenses. A SNEWS poll right after the November 2018 show found that 39 percent of voters felt the Winter Market was a disappointment and 15 percent said it was productive. Only 2 percent said it was the best show ever. After the cancellation of Interbike 2019, Outdoor Retailer announced that they were adding bikes to the 2019 Winter Market. Nicholson told SNEWS that they will continue to welcome bike brands to both shows. Nicholson in her statement continued, “Through ongoing feedback, it has become clear that one combined winter show in January will best support brands, retailers and reps,...
by Board Retailers Association | Aug 8, 2019 | Associate Members, Industry, News, Resources, Skateboard, Snowboard, Surf, Trade Shows, Wakeboard
PRESS RELEASES | Published Aug 7, 2019 BRA Names New Chairman, Executive Director The Board Retailers Association (BRA), a non-profit organization representing thousands of independently owned surf, skate, snow and wake retailers, is pleased to announce that it elected a new Chairman, George Leichtweis of Modern Skate & Surf this year. Having been on the Board of Directors as the Chairman of the Skateboard Committee for many years, George was a founding member of BRA and has been in the specialty retail business for 40 years. Former Chairman, Bruce Cromartie will remain on the Board of Directors. BRA Chairman George Leichtweis George is passionate about independent retailers being successful and believes that they are the backbone and feeder system for all the board sport industries. “It is where young kids have their first impression of each sport that will stay with them as they continue to grow into adults and pass on the ‘stoke’ to others. Board Retailers Association can provide smaller retailers with the tools to be successful and keep their doors open to continue to turn new kids on to the sports that they love.” George is the owner and president of Modern Sports, Inc, dba Modern Skate & Surf as well as Modern Skate Park. Over the last 40 years, he has operated multiple Modern Skate & Surf stores in Michigan and also the world-renowned Modern Skate Parks in Novi, Madison Heights and Grand Rapids, Michigan and has been involved in the “Extreme Sports” arena since 1979. He currently operates one location that consists of a retail store for Specialty Sporting Goods, a World Class Skate Park...
