Surf Expo Draws 5,200 Buyers, 700 New Retailers Despite Decreased Attendance

kailee bradstreet

• August 25 2009
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Surf Expo’s August 2009 show drew approximately 5,200 buyers and 700 new retailers to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida last week for the three-day event that featured some new additions, including a skate demo by several of the industry’s top pros, as well as a BRA Retailer Survivor Series that attracted an audience of 80 retailers.

Although overall attendance for the show was off by nearly 15 percent compared to September 2008, the number of retail stores present remained on par with previous years, according to Surf Expo Show Director Roy Turner.  The drop off in attendance continued a trend Surf Expo saw in January with retailers bringing less staff with them to the show.

“Surf Expo, like all trade shows, is a reflection of the current marketplace,” Turner says. “Our goal is to offer an exciting, business-friendly venue that attracts the majority of industry’s buying power on the national level. Despite a tough retail climate, we are confident we met that goal during last week’s show. Virtually all of the large brands I spoke with said the show exceeded their expectations.”

Similar to retailers, some brands also paired down their booth sizes, according to Turner. “Last week’s show remained the same as our September 2008 show, but the total number of booths  occupied was off 27.5%,” explains Turner, adding that Surf Expo views the brands’ decision as a sound approach and one that will keep on the floor and in front of buyers.

Surf Expo’s full-time buyer relations team worked to bring retailers to the show that represented 2,294 stores from 40 states and 55 countries, and more than 700 new retailers pre-registered for August, according to Turner. TransWorld Business walked the show floor during the three day event, talking to brands and retailers about their experience at the show.

Costa Mesa, California’s Surfside Sports Owner Duke Edukas, who was recently elected as co-chair of the Board Retailers Association, says that he is cautiously optimistic about his numbers for back to school sales - although he has seen less volume - and says his store is starting to see more consumer confidence overall. Edukas says that Surfside’s buying strategy for trade shows hasn’t changed much in the past few years, and that because it was his first trip to Surf Expo, he was using the time to get a feel for how the show works compared to the West Coast.

“I think this is an incredible show for East Coast,” says Edukas. “The East Coast is way different than the West Coast in that the West Coast we have all the manufacturers centrally located. We have ASR which is a great place for all of us to get together and show our comraderie and the energy of the industry and I think that Surf Expo at the same time portrays the surf industry to the people on the East Coast that don’t have the ability to be going to the Hurleys, the Quiksilvers, and the Volcom’s and the RVCA’s, etc. etc., and being able to go to meetings at Billabong like all of us did last week. So this is a really important show, and I can just feel all the comraderie being portrayed at this show and how happy the people with stores on the East Coast are to see the owners and talk to the owners about their concerns and get a little insight from the owners of the company about the industry and where things are going.”

The Surf Expo staff will reach out this week to gather as much feedback from retailers about their experience at the show in order to set dates for 2010, according to Turner.

“In the end, retailers will decide future dates and that pattern will need to accommodate the majority based on buying season,” he says. “Currently we have dates reserved for August and September, and should have an announcement by week’s end.”

Find more information about Surf Expo and additional photos and video interviews from the show at our Surf Expo 2009 resource page.