If you’ve noticed a lot of shops with Arnette displays lately, it’s probably because someone in that shop wants a free trip to Tavarua, Hawai’i, or Cabo San Lucas. The sunglass company is challenging its retailers and reps in a contest to put together the best window display promoting Arnette product.
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After SMP was sold by Ride Sports, Inc. to its Australian liscenee, questions about the brand floated around the industry. Was it giving up on the U.S. market? Who is Eugene King, president of SMP International, and new owner of the U.S. franchise? And why was the brand located way [...]

It’s summertime and the living’s easy–or is it?
With the right combination of good weather and consistent swells, surf shops can expect bonanza-sized summer sales that make Hoss seem puny. But drought-induced Florida fires, months of So Cal June gloom, or a string of swell-free [...]

Early in the 90s, a change in the economy and a generation of dark and brooding teens called “X” caused a lifestyle shift that was more urban than beach.
With the new generation of teens, known as Generation Y or Millennials, surfwear manufacturers are beginning to [...]

Luxottica SpA, Italy’s largest eyeglass company, agreed to buy Bausch and Lomb Inc.’s eyewear brands (which includes Arnette) for 640-million dollars in cash. Luxottica owns the LensCrafter chain of optical stores and makes designer-name glasses such as Emporio Armani, Ferragamo, Persol, and Briko. As part of the deal, Luxottica also receives Bausch and Lomb sunglass [...]

The View From SIMA logo
When was the last time you felt like a grommet?

I recently had the opportunity to attend the rematch of the 1964 World Surfing Championships held in Noosa, Australia.
The original event was the first acknowledged World Championships–staged in Manly, Sydney–where the highly [...]

Two young Mexican locals were surfing a left point just east of Cabo San Lucas, Baja California, Mexico. Little did they know that the five gringos who paddled out and crowded their spot were executives working for the companies that made their surfboards, surf trunks, rashguards, and even their shoes [...]

How the Internet may change the surf industry.
In the near future, the biggest change in the product strategy of small, hardcore surf shops won’t be in reaction to stores like Nordstrom or Macy’s, but from the quickly developing world of electronic commerce on the Internet.
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Amateur surfing in the United States is in deep trouble: teenage competitors pulling in huge contracts and driving luxury cars, the absence of a clear step-by-step process to prepare tomorrow’s surfers for the rigors of life on the ASP pro tour, an acronym stew of organizations corporate sponsors find confusing, the U.S. amateur team’s woeful [...]

Early in the 90s, a change in the economy and a generation of dark and brooding teens called “X” caused a lifestyle shift that was more urban than beach.
With the new generation of teens, known as Generation Y or Millennials, surfwear manufacturers are beginning to [...]