7/1/2013
Teen retailer Quiksilver is undergoing a significant overhaul to recapture teen shoppers. As part of its makeover, the retailer is reducing its merchandise SKUs by 30%, primarily by stopping production on its in-house apparel brands DC Surf, Quiksilver Skate, Quiksilver Women, VSTR, and Summer Teeth.
The company is also exiting most event sponsorships and athlete endorsement deals. “After the first round of pruning that we did, we still have 500 [athletes] left,” says Quiksilver’s Andrew Mooney. “There’s no question that kids are moved by athlete endorsement, but they’re probably moved by about 10 athletes in the world, not by 500.”
Although Quiksilver has become a familiar face in action sports events, company executives question the return on investment. “If you can only get 2,000 kids on the beach to see the event, that’s how many consumers you impact. Surfing is a particularly difficult event to televise, so it’s not like the 20 million surfers who are around the world will actually be watching any of these events in any large numbers,” says Mooney.
Now, Quiksilver is concentrating on permanent and seasonal point-of-sale displays at its retail stores and via social media. Print is another key focus. “We’re going to be increasing our investment in print. There I’d say it would be primarily on the Roxy side because we believe, for young women in particular, print magazines, out-of-home, to a lesser degree is still a really meaningful investment, less so for young men, but certainly for young women it’s a viable investment, and we have not been doing enough of it,” says Mooney. [Retail]
SOURCE: Quiksilver, Andrew Mooney, CEO, 15202 Graham St., Huntington Beach, CA 92649; 714-889-2200; andrew.mooney@quiksilver.com; www.quiksilver.com.
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