Sector 9 Co-founder Discusses Billabong Deal
mike lewis
- July 08 2008
- 3,508 views
- 21 comments
The fireworks and celebration began a bit early this year over at Sector 9 after it was announced on July 2nd that Billabong had purchased the brand. Transworld Business was able to wrangle a few minutes of co-founder Steve Lake’s time after the smoke lifted momentarily to get his thoughts on the deal and what it means for Sector 9 and Gullwing.
Transworld Business:
How long has this been in the works?
Steve Lake:
We first spoke of the possibility in January of this year.
TWB:
What does this mean for Sector 9?
SL:
This means we will have access to resources we never imagined possible for Sector 9. Our team will now have a much larger platform from which to grow the business both domestically and internationally.
TWB:
Do you see a lot of synergies?
SL:
Billabong has the most successful multi-branded platform in our industry. They are an industry leader with an amazing global footprint and our synergies are plentiful.
TWB:
Any new initiatives you have planned now that you have deeper pockets?
SL:
Not all new initiatives take deeper pockets to execute. Our merely having a mentor to help us avoid the inevitable costly mistakes in growing our business is what we look forward to most.
TWB:
Do you foresee being in more doors now?
SL:
Yes, especially internationally where there remains tremendous growth opportunities for our brand.
TWB:
Will you have to pull out of some of your current accounts?
SL:
We have no intentions of changing any of our retail account base. All of our accounts so far have been very supportive of this deal and they can look forward to even better products and customer service from Sector 9 in the future.
TWB:
What are you most stoked on about this deal?
SL:
We are excited to be part of such a dynamic and forward thinking group. The same crew that grew Sector 9 from the backyard to this point will now be armed with the best horsepower in the industry. We’ve set some pretty lofty goals for ourselves and now we have no excuses but to reach them and we’re up for the challenge.
TWB:
How will oversight/reporting with Billabong work?
SL:
I’ll let them answer this question if they want to. I will say that our crew that got us here remains intact and if history repeats itself we will operate autonomously within the group.
TWB:
What can we look forward to as far as design collaborations?
SL:
Lot’s of really good stuff…
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July 8th, 2008 at 8:47 am
GET READY TO JUGGLE! not my balls in your mouth, but your CASHFLOW with CIT! Yes, they may be “the most successful multi-branded platform in our industry” but they also lump their multi-brands under ONE LARGE MONO-FACTOR. this means you can get your next Von Zipper shipment put on ‘credit-hold’ until you pay your Sector 9 bill. so, good ‘SYNERGY’ for who? YOU? i’m not sure how. more doors for Sector 9 - does that help YOU? Listen, SO MANY folks in this industry would like to be bought -Brands, Shops, even the Reps - and that’s fine, but let’s not put frosting on every turd pie and invite the retailer over for a BBQ!
July 8th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
If your shipment is on “hold” it’s cause you can’t pay your bills. Like Burton said, buy what you can sell.
July 8th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
are you crazy? Burton says buy what you can sell? More like buy way more than you can sell or we will move next door.
July 8th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Since when did Burton EVER tell a retailer to buy according to what they can sell? Burton is infamous for stuffing product down our throats with no regard as long as we kept up with their growth plan. You need to get educated before you shoot your mouth off. But then again, you probably work for them and are just trying to keep your played out , over distributed brand relevant.
July 8th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
what a softball interview. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
July 8th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
I’M STOKED FOR SECTOR NINE. BILLABONG UNDERSTANDS THAT NOT ALL KIDS WANT TO WEAR HEAD TO TOE BILLABONG (UNLIKE QUIKSILVER) DO YOU SEE BILLABONG SHOES? BILLABONG SANDALS? BILLABONG SUNGLASSES? …AND THE LIST GOES ON. I THINK THEY ARE BRILLIANT OR ACQUIRING MULTIPLE BRANDS WITHIN THE SAME INDUSTRY AND THEN LEVERAGING THEIR RETAIL (BILLABONG RETAIL, HONOLUA, AND BEACHWORKS) TO SHOWCASE ALL THE GREAT BRANDS THEY OWN.
MAKES FOR A GREAT SHOPPING EXPERIENCE FOR THE KID TO SPEND HIS DOLLAR.
ISN’T THAT WHAT EVERYOE WANTS?
HAT’S OFF PAUL.
July 9th, 2008 at 4:59 am
CIT, HAs on Hold the entire world. Great Deal for Sector 9, but bad deal to those retailers who are in deep waters with CIT. I guess I have to scale back my buy.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Paying your bills may help!
July 9th, 2008 at 10:40 am
So your account gets put on hold because you are not paying your bills . . . . um what’s the problem here?
Would you allow a customer to come in and simply take stuff on the “promise” of paying?
As for the Burton (and any other company) “forcing you to increase your buy” - man up, and run your business the way it needs to be run.
July 9th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Warren = FAG!
Burton doesn’t care how you run your business as long as you agree to their ridiculous annual increases. Do your homework wanker!!
July 9th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Sector 9 has great potential (with or without Billabong) — don’t lose your independence or vision —
July 9th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
I’m a little confused.. how did a story about Billabong and Section 9 lead into a rant about Burton (again).
The continual growth of the skateboard market (an indication that there is big money to be made) will also drive larger market players to absorb smaller stores to gain market share. The above deal does not indicate that this is a total buy out and in no way does it indicate that the branding or distribution channels will be affected.
The opportunity for Section 9 to gain greater market presense via the economy of scale created by Billabong is a savvy business move. Steve Lake will still retain creative control (as this is a subsidiary deal ) while being able to access reasources that would have taken Section 9 years to achieve on their own.
July 10th, 2008 at 7:18 am
yeah, no shit paying bills may help. what the fuck with this mantra, people? are you a robot in the credit dept somewhere, or just completely detached from reality? of COURSE pay your bills - everyone who’s been around any length of time has ALWAYS paid their bills, otherwise they’d be out-of-business. You obviously have never dealt with the cyclical nature of cashflow in a seasonal business, or you wouldn’t repeat obvious, rote, robot-speak. got more advice? brush your teeth? stop at red lights?
July 10th, 2008 at 11:16 am
The companies have no regard for the retailers…BAM I said it.
July 10th, 2008 at 11:48 am
James is right. We can all dance around and play friends, but the bottom line,
is the catalyst to all friendships between manufacturing and retailer.
Bro Brah = you better not get in the way of me paying my mortgage. BAM 2!
July 10th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
…Not to mention, statingtheobvious, the strategic ways the reps shove their product at you (the time old, “oops..didn’t mean to send those to you”)
Also, the shipping departments idea of shipping one box of sunglasses everyday so you pay an extra 10 dollars per box. That’s always fun to add up and pay.
Oh..and have I mentioned the extra “8% admin fee” that companies are adding to their invoices?
Companies have ways of charging us for things we don’t even know about.
So yeah, no shit on the paying bills part.
July 10th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Steve Lake and the S9 crew will be able to buy more weed and hot box in the short bus. Who wouldn’t want a buy out. Raise your hand if you like money…
Hopefully, the Naude Empire wont lose touch of their individual brands/consumer.
July 12th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
True riches are in heaven…. we come into this world with nothin… we leave with nothin… enjoy the ride!
July 14th, 2008 at 2:50 am
G’day mates in the US… just thought I would let you know Naude and BB USA have nothing to do with the Sector 9 acquisition… BB just need more stuff to fill their stores, incase you don’t know already they have a vertical business model not really wholesale (that model is dated). Get use to it, the other big brands will try to follow asap as their single branded retail model has not worked! Been into a QS board-riders club store lately? Pretty dead when you try to flog a single mature brand. By the way BB is an asx publicly listed company in Australia with a market cap of 2.1 billion dollars… Gordon Merchant is the most successful individual in the Surf industry if you use money as the scoreboard of life’s success. Plenty more acquisitions on the way from the other brand once they get rid of the Rossignol legacy.
July 16th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Well put Krystal, and I agree with you 100%, except that it’s Sector 9, not Section 9
August 2nd, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Yo. When is the Sector Nine bowl open to the public? I wanna hit that shit.