by Board Retailers Association | Jan 20, 2020 | Industry, News, Surf
Shaping Icon Maurice Cole on Racism, Cancer and the Power of Surfing THE AUSTRALIAN LEGEND IN HIS OWN WORDS JANUARY 18, 2020 BY JUSTIN HOUSMAN Short film by Peter Baker The often cloistered, impenetrable surf world could use a lot more figures like Maurice Cole. Doesn’t take much poking to get Cole to hold forth with hours of surf stories, many told from a vulnerable and deeply personal place. He’s a man quick to open up to a stranger, commiserate with what you’re dealing with, and share a knowing wink. A refreshing blast of honesty in a surf environment often too blasé to offer anything of substance. In this moving short, we learn about Cole’s run-ins with the law, with his health issues both physically and mentally, and what surfing has meant to him through it all. In it, we find a surf legend no different from us plebes. Just one with way better stories. For more outstanding Surf related content...
by Board Retailers Association | Jan 7, 2020 | Resources, Surf
A Comprehensive Guide to Airline Board Bag Fees in 2020 PLANNING TO TRAVEL WITH SURFBOARDS THIS YEAR? CHOOSE YOUR AIRLINE WISELY JANUARY 7, 2020 BY ZANDER MORTON For better or for worse, surfing is more widespread than it’s ever been. Whether thanks to the WSL’s corpo approach in recent years, the explosion of wave pools, John Florence, the Olympics or some combination of all of those things, the world is taking notice. And so are the airlines. Fortunately, that’s a good thing. Gone are the days when nearly every airline was gouging the pockets of surfers, charging $150 per surfboard, if you were lucky. At one point, United Airlines actually doubled and tripled that charge for having more than one board in a bag, and many surfers actually paid over $1,000 to tote their boards from location to another. One way. These days, while there are still some bad apples out there, most airlines are leaning towards being surfer friendly, with some big carriers like American Airlines and Delta having recently cut surfboard fees completely. (Finally!) After digging through the oversize/sports equipment charges for every major airline you might consider flying, we figure the three best/worst airlines (in terms of low-cost board bag fees) are as follows: The Best: Qantas, Air Tahiti Nui and Emirates, as surfboards fly free on all three, so long as they are one of your two checked bags, and stay under the standard allowed weight and dimensions. (Honorable mention to American Air and Delta for cutting surfboard fees in 2019. Now you only pay $30 for surfboards on both airlines, assuming you aren’t checking more than...
by Board Retailers Association | Dec 18, 2019 | Industry, Retail History, Surf
This Shop Was Ground Zero For One of The Greatest Advancements in Surfboard Tech “SURF SHOP CHRONICLES” TAKES A TRIP TO DANA POINT’S ICONIC HOBIE SURF SHOP DECEMBER 17, 2019 BY SURFER MAGAZINE In the 1950’s, when most surfboards were still made out of heavy balsa wood, Hobie Alter and Gordon Clark teamed up to experiment with new shaping materials in Alter’s Dana Point store. “Hobie was making the most surfboards at that time,” recalls Kris Carlow, Hobie’s Brand Manager, in our latest episode of Surf Shop Chronicles. “But in ’58, along with Grubbie [Gordon] Clark, they decided to halt surfboard production and just R&D foam. For a full year, Hobie didn’t make surfboards.” And we all know what happened next. The polyurethane blanks Alter and Clark produced left balsa in the dust, became the industry standard and changed both surfboard performance and surfboard manufacturing forever. They weren’t the first to produce a foam blank, but they did perfect their production and ushered in a new era of surfboards. As impressive as that fact is, it’s only just the beginning of Hobie Surf Shops storied history in Dana Point and beyond. Click play above to learn more about one of the most iconic shops and recognizable brands in surfing history. For more interesting articles via this outstanding publication, click:...
by Board Retailers Association | Dec 10, 2019 | Industry, News, Surf, Women's Market
The Surfer Awards Fan Favorite Poll Results Are In…And Some Are Shocking YOUR CHOICES FOR BEST SURFER, MOVIE OF THE YEAR, BEST BARREL AND MORE FOR 2019 DECEMBER 10, 2019 BY TODD PRODANOVICH In case you hadn’t heard, last Thursday was the capital-b Biggest Night in Surfing. It was a big ol’ party at Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore of Oahu, where elite surfers dressed to the nines, The Mattson 2 melted some faces and gorgeous bronze statues were handed to the year’s most impressive surfers. One of the biggest shifts in our sweeping overhaul of the Awards this year was that all the winners in the live show were crowned by the Surfer Awards Academy, consisting of nearly 50 experts and icons like Gerry Lopez, Bruce Irons, Albee Layer, Taylor Steele, Carissa Moore and many many more (the only exception to this rule is the award for Battle of the Vlogs, which was awarded based on the Fan Favorite Poll). The Academy was broken into panels of 10 judges based on their specific expertise, and judges couldn’t vote in categories they were nominated in, of course (you can see the full results voted by the Academy here)). But we didn’t just want to know how surfing’s elite felt about the year in surfing, so we decided to do a Fan Favorite Poll to run in tandem with the Academy vote. The fan poll winners may not be crowned on the night of the big show, but it certainly does give a different kind of bragging rights to the winners—the people’s champs, as they were. What follows are your picks for the Surfer...
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),...
