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Attendance and business for the Agenda trade show
boomed at the Aug. 3–4 run of the surf, skate, streetwear
and fashion trade event at the Hyatt Regency Huntington
Beach Resort and Spa in Huntington Beach, Calif.
Agenda’s busy trade show aisles presented a marked contrast
to some of the recent sour economic news. The Dow
Jones industrial average plummeted more than 500 points
Aug. 4, and unemployment remained a stubborn 9.2 percent
across America. Retailers and vendors at Agenda
conceded that times are tough for the activewear industry,
too. However, one of the reasons why business looked
good at Agenda is because it is the sole survivor of a
group of West Coast trade shows serving action sports and
streetwear. Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo, considered
the pre-eminent surfwear show for the West Coast,
closed in 2010. Class, another show with a fashion/skate
edge, went on hiatus after its last show in May. Agenda is
the one trade show on the West Coast to do business, said
Bod Boyle, president of Dwindle Distribution, a skateboard-manufacturing
company based in El Segundo, Calif.
“Last year, there were options,” Boyle said. “[Now,] if you
want to meet people from a company, you have to come to
Agenda.” Starting business in 2003 as a tiny but scrappy
trade show, Agenda grew into an event where more than 300
brands exhibited and 7,000 buyers shopped the trade show,
according to Agenda president and co-founder Aaron Levant.
Last year, 5,000 buyers shopped the Agenda show. “We have
hit a key point where everyone knows what Agenda is,” Levant
said. For the most recent show, Agenda expanded with
web-only stories
trade show reports
Strong Turnout at Agenda’s Huntington Beach, Calif., Show
By Andrew Asch Retail Editor
AGENDA SALES: Sean Long, Sole Technology’s group manager for domestic sales, left,
and Taryn Hawk, right, talk business with retailers at Agenda.
Newport Beach Continued from page 33
Sorella Swim, a luxury collection of swimwear for
curvy women, said while business had been slow for her,
the show provided her an opportunity to meet with buyers
who were specifically looking for her product.
“We’re a little bit off to the side, so it’s hard to get
people from the grand ballroom out this way, and I think
our room’s a little dark,” Petersen said. “Other than that,
there’s definitely been traffic. I’m getting buyers that are
looking for [swimwear for curvy women]—they’ve had
requests for this.”
New designer Magdalena Trever said that based on
the results of buyer response to her knitted swimwear
line Maggie May, she is definitely planning on coming
back to the show next year.
“I think it’s a really great show. I love it,” she said. “I
like the clientele. It seems like a more upscale clientele
of buyers.”
Trever said that while no one had placed orders yet,
she had seen 10 buyers in the first half of the day and had
some accounts in progress.
Inside the grand ballroom, Debby Martin, sales and marketing
manager of L*Space, said the show had been “phenomenal”
and that she had seen about 30 buyers by appointment
and had eight walk-ups, including a few who wrote orders.
“We’ve been busy every hour,” she said. “We’ve been packed
with buyers from all the way up north and Orange County and
San Diego.”
With 50 exhibitors and 80 booths, exhibitors expressed
hopes the show would grow, both in variety and size.
COMPETITION INCREASING: Charlie
Setzler, president of the Rusty surf label,
said, “Buyers are a lot more discerning;
it is raising the level of competition.”
the debut of its
Pavilion area, a
30,000-square-feet
tent located outside
the Hyatt Regency.
Agenda’s emphasis
still is on a no-frills
show. The majority
of brands exhibit
in 10-by-10 booths
and a couple of
racks. However,
top labels such as
O’Neill showcased
in an 800-squarefoot
area. Almost
every vendor interviewed
reported
fully booked appointmentcalendars
and noted retailers
were making
orders for Spring
2011 as well as immediates merchandise. However, everyone
conceded that an anxiety on the macroeconomic scene put a
damper on the party. “The recession will take a long time,”
said Pierre André Senizergues, president of Sole Technology
Inc., a prominent Lake Forest, Calif.–based manufacturer of
skate lines such as Etnies and Emerica. “[Consumers] are being
more careful. It’s about frugality and
buying things that makes sense,” he said.
“Retail has become a race to the bottom
in terms of price,” said Scott Terpstra,
chief operating officer of Irvine, Calif.–
based Stussy. “We’re focusing on retailers
who focus on the integrity of brands,
not those who focus on promotions.”
“Buyers are a lot more discerning;
it is raising the level of competition,”
said Charlie Setzler, president of surf
brand Rusty. Most of Rusty’s prices
are kept below $60 retail, he said.
Retailers and vendors got breathing
room since cotton prices decreased,
said Ron Abdel, co-owner of the prominent
Jack’s Surfboards, the eight-store
chain based in Huntington Beach. But
he noted that consumers continue to
WEST COAST SWIM: California brands such as Laguna Beach–based
Vitamin A said they were excited about having a California swim show.
“This show is still very small, not too many vendors,” Hanimian
said, although he expected it would become bigger.
“It’s a baby; it’s newly born.”
Leggett said 300 buyers had pre-registered for the show and
estimated that an additional 200 registered on-site on Aug. 2.
Feedback from the floor was that exhibitors were pleased and
that the show was “beyond everyone’s expectations,” he said.
Next year, Leggett plans on adding runway shows and possibly
extending the show to three days. ●
OBEY FACE: Scott Yarnall of Obey exhibited the Santa Ana,
Calif.–based label’s Spring ’12 line at its busy Agenda booth.
show price resistance. “They can live with price increases
of $1 or $2. But they won’t buy it if it’s hiked up $9 to $10
more,” he said.
Good scheduling also added to Agenda’s good fortune.
The show is held in early August, a month before many surf
brands wrap up Spring ordering in September. For those selling
immediates, there is a solid month of summer left when
consumer demand for summer clothes continues.
The show also coincided with a major sports event in
Huntington Beach. The Nike U.S. Open of Surfing began
on July 30 and runs to Aug. 7. More than 500,000 people
visit Huntington Beach to watch top surfers compete and to
have fun in the town’s party atmosphere, which is something
like the X-Games and the Super Bowl for surfers.
According to Dave Rosenberger, vice president/national
sales manager, young men’s and winter sports, for Quiksilver,
Agenda has become part of a surf and skate market
week for action-sports retailers. They come to town to watch
competitive surfing, shop at Agenda and then take meetings
at the headquarters of active-sports labels such as Quiksilver.
“The whole week is very productive,” Rosenberger said. California-
and West Coast–based retailers such as Pacific Sunwear,
Zumiez, SunDiego, Zappos, 80s Purple, Revolve,
Tilly’s, Swell.com, Black Market, American Rag, Zebra
Club shopped Agenda. Vendors reported a greater presence
of international retailers and East Coast–headquartered shops
such as the Navy Exchange; Florida surf shops Maui Nix
and Innerlight Surf & Skate Shop; and 17th Street Surf
Shop, based in Virginia. ●
Men’s Retail Continued from page 33
baseball T-shirts, hats and fleece garments that can be
found at Fred Segal and high-end resort gift stores.
But recently they started representing a new boardshort
and swimwear line called Onia, which is Hebrew for
“ship.”
The high-end line from New York carries a sophisticated
waterproof nylon swim trunk that could double
as a walking short. It wholesales for $52. “This suit
goes from the pool to the bar and back to the pool,”
said Faul, holding up a sage green trunk. The swimwear
line is also big on prints. Onia recently partnered
with Liberty of London, known for its art fabrics, to
do Liberty of London swim trunks for men.
Onia also has a less-expensive men’s line called
Trunks, which is dazzling with its range of artful and
colorful prints. Swim trunks wholesale for $19.
In the last year, more contemporary brands have
found their way to the West Coast Trend Show, searching
out more established men’s clothing stores to expand
their territory beyond contemporary retailers.
That was why Ricky Chan, men’s West Coast sales
representative for Hudson jeans, was making his first
appearance at the show.
It went well for him. He opened seven new Los Angeles
accounts interested in the line’s array of primarily
denim pants. They wholesale for $70 to $95. “Retailers
are loosening up and willing to take more chances than
a year ago,” he said. “And we are trying to be fresh in
offering new denim and new styling.” ●