By Laylan Connelly | [email protected] | Orange County Register
A wave of change is underway for the world’s largest surf brands.
Eighty-four positions were eliminated at Boardriders Wholesale LLC Inc.- the umbrella company that owned Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, RVCA and a handful of other action-sports brands. The layoffs follow the September sale of the action-sports company to New York-based Authentic Brands Group.
The layoffs, which started in September and will continue through October, are happening in the Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa offices. They will be completed by Oct. 31, according to a letter the company sent to the state Employment Development Department.
In the letter, the company called the permanent layoffs “necessary but difficult measures,” with 72 positions cut at the Huntington Beach headquarters, 19 in Costa Mesa, one in Mira Loma and another at Universal City.
The eliminated jobs ranged from the top level down, from CEO to several vice presidents, jobs in the art, design, marketing, sales departments and beyond.
While Authentic Brand Group did not respond to requests for comment, industry insiders said the downsizing marks a turbulent time for the legacy brands, all of which have a rich history in Southern California and have played a pivotal role in the evolution and growth of surfing culture here and around the world.
Vipe Desai, executive director of the Surf Industry Members Association, said the long transition of the sale left a sense of uncertainty within the company for the past year.
“There were a lot of people uncertain if they were going to have a job,” he said. “That’s what has affected some of the uncertainty and maybe even the morale within the brands.”
Layoffs, unfortunately, are typically standard when brands are purchased, he said.
Some people were rehired by the licensee, he said, while others have landed at other brands within the tight-knit industry.
Following the sale, which also included DC Shoes, Element, VonZipper and Honolua, Authentic Brands Group announced Liberated Brands as its licensee and operating partner, the same group used for Costa Mesa-based Volcom and Spyder, a ski and snow brand.
Liberated will become the retail and e-commerce operator for Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, RVCA, Honolua and Boardriders in the US and Canada. It also will be the licensing partner and wholesale distributor in the US and Canada for Billabong, RVCA and Honolua adult sportswear, activewear, swimwear, outerwear, headwear and base layer products.
In 2018, a sale to Oaktree Capital that combined two longtime rivals, Billabong and Quiksilver, shocked the surf world when the legacy brands were brought together under the Boardriders portfolio.
That company had already made deep cuts throughout the company with 170 jobs — 110 in the U.S. and 60 in Asia — eliminated in 2022, according to surf industry tracker shop-eat-surf.com.
Most everyday consumers don’t know, or care about, who is licensing the brands, Desai noted. It’s more about who their favorite athletes ride for, or what events the brands sponsor.
“I don’t think they care who owns what,” Desai said. “It’s only the people who follow it or want to talk negatively about what is happening because something they love is being disrupted.”’
He warns, however, of potential “brand erosion.”
