Billabong declared worthless... it was only a matter of time

"The company closed 93 of its stores this year and has plans to shutter more."

100+ stores? No wonder they're struggling!

 

probably get bought out by some large parent company that could care less about surfing...

 

at first I was shocked, then I thought about the last time I actually bought a billabong product... been a while. Blame me, I guess.

 

They sold off Dakine, which I would have thought to be one of their stronger brands. 100+ stores worldwide doesn't seem like all that many when you factor in the other less surfing oriented brands like Element. My guess is they will survive...maybe the Aussie gov't will bail 'em out!

 

Invest now, while their shares are only worth some pocket change?

 

the problem is after they reached their high they are starting to come down.100+ stores and growing number of surfers seems like we should open more stores to meet the commerce.i dont have any billabong products or clothing.why buy $60 boardshorts when you can get 10 pairs of boardshorts for $50 at walmart.i hate worldmart by the way,buts its cheap and im broke.my little rich buddies growin up used to wear volcom,and i never knew what it was,then i find out later its a surfing company.if you got the money to wear it,go ahead.but most people cant afford it.surfshops biggest revenue comes from selling clothing.not everyday people walk into a surfshop and buy 3boards at a time.i have a surfshop right around the corner from my house and every time i stop in,its dead empty and the workers are watching surf movies.business is bad.im fashionably incorrect,i look at it like do i want to have a full tank of gas or buy 1 tshirt from eastern lines?

 

100 + stores???? I didn't realize that Poland and Switzerland are such hot surf spots. Guess I need to alter my vacation plans.

 

Maybe if some of their stuff actually fit and followed standard sizes of almost all other mens clothing on the planet. They seem to follow the RS school of design when creating their products. Why would you measure the waist of a pair of shorts differently than everyone else. It's been like this for decades.

P.S. It's not a metric/imperial thing. They just don't use standard sizing measurements.

 

No reason at all, but that's probably their busiest store. I always drop by when I'm in the Big Apple. Same with the Quiksilver store. I hope they don't sell out to - as Admin pointed out - a parent company that could care less about surfing. Billabong has been a staple in the industry for a while and I hope they stay that way. I can't remember the last time I bought one of their products, but I'll probably do so this weekend. Ya'll stay safe.

 

Buy your surf clothes from, JETTY.

 

Over the past 10 years, they probably had too many overpaid Reps running around surfing and bro-dealing instead of working

 

Agreed... Every time I have been in the NYC stores they are packed. I'm sure they are the busiest locations

 

Yes, but everyone "bro-deals". I get all my free sh** from Nixon, Quik and Sanuk off bro-deals... Nothing wrong with that =) This is America!

 

I wonder how much Hollister is hurting them.

 

dont worry about the sale to a big firm, there are already 3 private equity firms involved. Cut stores, fire people, reign inthe "bros", find cheaper manufacturing in china, pay yourself back with big dividends and THEN you let it die through a devalued brand and too much leverage. Bong will survive a few more years.

 

Couldn't be further from the truth

Ever since a good buddy of mine started repping for the 'bong, he's spent more and more time on the road (often inland) and out of the surf. Surf Company Rep is NOT the job of choice for folks who actually want to spend lots of time in the water.

I'll bet other folks on here can confirm this as well...

 

Just do what I do and go into Ross, or TJ Max or Marshalls and buy the $60 boardies for $10. They may be a year old, but they are cheaper than walmart shorts and you still get the quality and branding, just a year out of date.

Or if you have a lot of friends that surf, just wait until your buddy goes overseas and give him like $40. He will come back from Indo with about 20 pairs of boardies and 10 knock-off sunnies and you will be good for two years. The indo knockoffs are rather impressive.