Kelly Gibson is shaking things up at Costa Mesa-based Rip Curl USA.
Since taking the chief executive reins late last year, Gibson has moved on a slew of changes at the maker of wetsuits and surf-inspired clothes.
He hired executives and designers, cut some workers, slowed the company’s retail plans and put a big focus on men’s clothes.
“I’m all about people and product,” Gibson said. “I need to build a strong management team of people to be able to build the best product we can.”
Rip Curl brought in Gibson, former chief executive of Irvine-based O’Neill Clothing, last fall to revamp the Australian brand’s U.S. operations.
Gibson, a former professional surfer, said he had been chatting with Doug “Claw” Warbrick, a surfing buddy and Rip Curl cofounder.
Warbrick and Brian Singer started the business in the late 1960s with surfboards, then branched into wet suits in 1970 and later clothes.
“I had been watching the brand forever,” Gibson said. “It led to me coming over.”
His charge: put an American flavor on Rip Curl.
The company has a strong following at its home in Australia and in Europe, but has struggled here, Gibson said.
Wetsuits and watches are hot, but clothing hasn’t taken off, he said.
“This market has been the Achilles heel for the brand,” Gibson said.
There’s also been turnover with Rip Curl’s executive team.
In the past, the parent company would send leaders over from Australia to see if they could fix things, Gibson said.
“But it hasn’t worked,” he said. “We’re building a new management team.”
That’s meant beefing up some areas, such as men’s clothing design, and trimming redundant jobs.
Rip Curl now counts about 85 people at its headquarters, down from around 100.
Gibson, who led O’Neill on a tear and helped build it into one of the larger surfwear makers, brought on Rick Petri as executive vice president to lead the men’s surfwear charge.
Petri was O’Neill’s former vice president of men’s merchandising and design.
The local unit now is designing clothes and researching products for the U.S., instead of taking some designs from Rip Curl’s other operations, Petri said.
Two years ago, Rip Curl opened an 80,000-square-foot headquarters in Costa Mesa.
Some styles, such as knit men’s tops and walk shorts, were expanded. There’s a big focus on board shorts, which have new fly enclosures, trims and fabrics.
Rip Curl also is coming out with sandals for men and women.
“We’re going to build products that enhance the surfing experience,” Petri said. “If you’re not wearing a (Rip Curl) wetsuit, you’re wearing board shorts.”
The company tapped a new art director to focus on graphics, which Petri called “the face of the product, the face of the brand.”
“When you think about surf brands, you think board shorts, walk shorts and graphics,” Petri said. “Those are the areas we want to be experts in.”
People are noticing the changes.
“There’s been a major improvement,” said Dave Hollander, president of Torrance-based Becker Surfboards, which has several OC locations including Huntington Beach and Mission Viejo. “(Rip Curl) is right there with everyone else.”
Hollander said Rip Curl will benefit from Gibson, who is “really good at getting product placed in retailers,” something Rip Curl has struggled with.
“It’s viewed as a solid world class surf brand. It’s just kind of like the step kid in California,” Hollander said. “It’s not with the public. It’s with the other retailers.”
In the past, Rip Curl’s product was “so-so,” and some retailers balked when Rip Curl opened its own branded stores, Hollander said.
“Retailers tend to be an unforgiving bunch,” he said. “You don’t scream and yell at Quiksilver when they open a store because you need them. But Rip Curl you can scream and yell at because you really didn’t need them. I think other retailers unfairly skewed them.”
It’s a sensitive area where surf and skate companies have to tiptoe to not alienate sellers of their garb.
Several others have opened their own stores to promote their brands, including Costa Mesa-based Volcom Inc., Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc. and Irvine-based Billabong USA.
Having Rip Curl stores “showcases” the brand and also is good for other retailers since it raises awareness for the clothes, Gibson said.
But he said the company “moved a little too fast in opening stores.” In 18 months, Rip Curl went from five to 10 stores, which includes locations in San Clemente and Irvine.
“My plan is to take a pause from our retail stores and really focus on the wholesale business,” Gibson said. “I have a wholesale background. I’m not a retailer.”
If the product is right, Rip Curl will regain shelf space in stores, Gibson said.
“Everybody wants a brand that makes them money,” he said.
It also helps that Rip Curl is getting buzz from its sponsored athletes, such as pro surfer Mick Fanning, who is competing in the ASP World Tour in South Africa, said Peter “P.T.” Townend, surf industry veteran and owner of marketing shop Huntington Beach-based ActivEmpire Inc.
Under Gibson, the company “has its best chance” to “get to the upper echelon of surf brands” in the U.S., something it already has done globally alongside Quiksilver and Billabong, Townend said.
