Showcase Snowboards Retail Stores Take Over Westbeach Locations
Press Release
- September 29 2008
- 462 views
- 5 comments
Whistler (BC), Canada - Whistler Blackcomb has announced the integration of the Westbeach retail stores under the banner of the Showcase Snowboards brand. A piece of Whistler is being transplanted to Vancouver with the rebranding of the Vancouver Westbeach Store as a Showcase Snowboards location, as well as the Westbeach Whistler location.
“Showcase Snowboards was the first snowboard shop in Whistler and has been a very strong brand for us at Whistler Blackcomb,” says Todd Friesen, vice president of retail and rental at Whistler Blackcomb. “Combining two competing snowboard store brands will create a strategic advantage that we believe will enable Showcase Snowboards to reach its full potential and excel as a top retail experience.”
More than a retail store, Showcase features live DJ’s, industry parties, and professional athletes, and is the connection to snowboard, surf and skate
culture. The new Showcase stores will offer snow, skate and surf casual fashion.
Showcase Online is being redeveloped to integrate the Westbeach community site with the Showcase online store and the new store locations. The new format will be launched this fall featuring the products found in-store; hard-goods, outerwear, street wear and accessories.
Customers can expect the integration of the new stores to happen through the fall with the official launch date of early November.
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September 29th, 2008 at 8:37 am
?Showcase Snowboards was the first snowboard shop in Whistler and has been a very strong brand for us at Whistler Blackcomb,? says Todd Friesen”
I think Todd needs to do a litle research on The Snoboard Shop. Predates Showcase by 5 years.
September 29th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Wasn’t the Snoboard shop?
September 29th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Yeah Showcase was not the first. It might have been “the first shop in Whistler” with square footage, fancy lights, regular hours and actual stock but The Snoboard Shop in the back of Timberline Lodge is the OG. There, instead of fancy lights or whatever, they had such games and themes as: a communal deodorant on a string for apres-riding employee funk; “no tax day”; Keith-throws-stuff-into-the-ceiling-fan day; how long has Ernie been sleeping here day?; painted carpet; an analog precursor to the internet that would make Al Gore blush; Morry art verging on the truly weird and awesome etc. Not many people got to experience the original Whistler Snoboard Shop but, for those of us who did, it’s unlikely that a corporate press release will erase it from our memories. (No dis on Showcase…great shop!)
September 29th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
I know that we had a lot of fun in the timberline lodge and that we had the slackest rules ever (5cm/1 inch)) for minimum amount of snow needed for the whole staff of 1 to close the shop and go snowboarding, but I think showcase was third in the “I’m first sweepstakes” I love showcase but first ummmmm…. Nope!
If it was for The Snoboard Shop there might not have been the crop of shreds that have changed snowboarding. Dano Pendygrasse - manager, senior photographer, Mark Morriset,shred turned distributor, Neil Daffern, inventor together with myself of twintip, invented the asym board and if he was still alive we’d be riding hover boards, Colin Whyte, best writer in snowboarding, former repair guy, Sean Kearns, shred turned filmaker Whisky to forum truelife and more, doug lundgren, one of the first snowboarders to become a ski guide, alex warburton-pretendgeneer at Forum and now Salomon,Don Schwartz, shred turned guide turned owner of Powder Mountain Catboarding, Sean Johnson shred turned Boozy the Clown turned owner of Stepchild Snowboards, jon Boyer shred turned filmmaker. There were so many more it would amaze you. My favorite thing other than all my best friends I made owning “the shop” is that Baseless bindings were invented there. Now they’re back as the EST system. The Snoboard Shop turned onto the Camp of Champions and is still making snowboarding better. We might have be closed a lot but we were open enough to sell you the future… u
September 29th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Somebody buy that man some semi-colons. Jesus.