That’s not sympathy, just describing them. Poor pro surfers. Their fortunes fell with the industry, which fell with the economy, which fell on cactus. Times are hard for middle-class pros. Not the Fannings or the Florences, but the 99 percent.
That’s what people keep saying. But it doesn’t quite add up.
Why do surfers get sponsored, anyway? … More
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“Bikes are for kids.” “You paid how much for that pushbike?” I’m sure anyone who hangs out on this site or on any of other myriad of mountain bike enthusiast sites that have spread like disease in the past while has heard this before, and probably had the same shaking-head reaction. But we’re “enthusiasts”; bike geeks. Some would say blinkered addicts, addicted to mountain biking, trail building, riding, and hanging out with other mountain bikers. Often caught up in an ecosystem of bike nerdery without much insight into the relative smallness of the mountain biking industry and its relative insignificance in the grand scheme of a global economy.
Times are a-changing though. The people who started riding in the 80’s and 90’s are now older. Often they have kids. They’re still riding; and they’re travelling to ride. Sometimes they travel with … More
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In the quarter ended April 30, Quiksilver’s revenue fell 10.4% from $456 to $408 million. The net loss grew from $32.4 to $53.1 million. Discontinued product lines contributed $9 million to revenue in last year’s quarter, but none in this year’s. A year ago, they also owned Mervin and the Hawk brand. I’m a little surprised they didn’t mention how much revenue those brands contributed a year ago.
I’ll spare you a long quote from CEO Andy Mooney on the profit improvement plan (PIP), but basically he says, we’ve done what we said we’d do and we’ll do more. He notes they’ve … More
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For as long as man has ridden waves, he has tried to ride as big wave as possible. And for as long as man has ridden big waves, he has tried to reach a mainstream audience in doing so. “It’s so simple!” they say, before mentioning the “big wave, small person” concept and referencing the Mississippi grandma that’s going to be glued to her TV as Dorian packs the inside bowl at Maverick’s. But so far, nobody’s really been able to deliver. The webcast is shotty. The waits are too long between waves and sometimes, the waves just aren’t that big. But all you can do is keep pounding on middle-America’s door and eventually somebody’s going to answer. Picture it: The screen door creaks ajar. A leery mother, in stained sweat pants with a KFC bucket clutched in her arm, says, “State yer business.” The sharp-dressed man on the stoop flashes … More
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