ASR Holiday is the Place for the Business of the Season

ASR Holiday is the Place for the Business of the Season
Leading brands pair with powerful buyers to plan for the 4th quarter

The action sports industry had its first taste of the holidays at ASR Holiday in Costa Mesa, CA on May 28 and 29. The industry’s leading brands such as Billabong, Quiksilver, Element, Rip Curl and Roxy met with the strongest buyers in action sports over the two-day event.

“ASR Holiday was created to do what ASR does best, make the business of buying easier for retailers and reps, while providing a great networking opportunity,” says Andy Tompkins, Group Show Director. “This show demonstrates that the industry supports events that efficiently and effectively streamline weeks worth of product previews in to a focused format.”

The convenient location and relaxed vibe made for an easy, business-centric event. Hundreds of buyers were in attendance from some of the most influential retail outlets including Sun Diego, Jack’s, Becker Surf and Sport, Macy’s, ZJ Boarding House, Tilly’s, Hansen’s, Huntington Surf and Sport and M. Miura. These elite retailers were joined by buyers from as far as Australia, Peru, Spain and Central America as well as Hawaii and the east coast and collectively represent millions of dollars in buying power.

“I’m a big fan of the holiday show-it’s providing a good function,” said Tom Holbrook, senior vice president of Quiksilver. “The people here busy working. Our appointment list has a lot of accounts in places like Hawaii, Costa Rica and Florida that are hard to travel to, and other great buyers that are here writing orders.”

“We were busy the whole time with five appointments each day and they were big ones,” says Bobby Abdelfattah, co–owner of Jack’s Surf Shop. “Throughout the show we’ll get 10-15 brands out of the way here with 10 staffers on the floor. It is so much easier to see brands here than in the store. It saves me three to four days in the office.”

Billabong Girls kept their seats full breaking holiday lines and an at once cruise swim collection. “It’s been a good show for us–every appointment has been full. We’ve seen 20 appointments in the first day alone,” remarks Rana Townend, sales manager for the brand.
 
Prior to ASR’s Holiday debut, buyers were forced to preview dozens of lines just as the summer rush hit stores. As holiday lines grew in size and importance, ASR introduced the Holiday show in 2006 to meet the needs of these busy buyers.