Chairman Winkler Wants to Focus on His Other Ventures
Marvin Winkler, chairman and CEO of Irvine-based Gotcha International, is reviewing four offers to buy a significant stake in the company, including one by rival surfwear maker Ocean Pacific in Irvine. Winkler said he is looking for a partner to focus on Gotcha while he pursues other business ventures.
The move comes nearly a year after Quiksilver Europe purchased Gotcha licensee Freestyle in Paris to manufacture clothes and distribute them throughout Europe. Locally, Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver has been growing through acquisitions such as its recent purchases of Hawk Designs Inc. and Fidra, a golf apparel company created by industry veteran John Ashworth. Winkler declined comment about whether Quiksilver was a contender for ownership of Gotcha’s trademark brand.
“We are actually bringing in an additional partner to get more involved and more focused on the brand,” said Winkler. “My interests are more in the high-tech area but I want to make sure the brand has a strong focus. I’ve identified four parties and will be making whatever decision is best for the brand in the next two weeks.”
Winkler is also chairman of Broadband Interactive Group, Irvine, a developer of Web content, and CEO of another Irvine technology company, Biz Interactive Zone, that makes smart cards.
Winkler said he intends to sell a portion of Gotcha to an operating partner and retain some ownership.
“OP is one of the folks (bidding), except they are the last option that we would look at today because they are in a brand position that might not go along exactly with where we would want the company to go,” Winkler said.
OP chairman and CEO Dick Baker declined to comment.
Winkler would not disclose what other companies are bidding on the company, but described them as “very qualified, high-end candidates.” “There are a combination of surfwear companies (and others) with offers on the table,” he said. “We are looking at what would be the best, particularly a substantial surf company that understands the grass roots of the industry would be preferred.”
The new partnership, Winkler said, will not change its existing relationship with Irvine licensee Ederel Sportswear Inc., a company with 76 employees formed in October 1999 by extreme sports apparel manufacturing veteran Snowmass Apparel Inc. to design and manufacture Gotcha’s apparel.
Over the years, Gotcha has struggled to compete in the crowded $2 billion-plus surfwear industry and has lost market share as newcomers such as Volcom Board Wear and Hurley International, both of Costa Mesa, have come on the scene. At its peak in the 1980s, Gotcha’s global sales were reportedly upward of $100 million, but industry insiders estimate the company’s sales are now closer to the $30 million range.
Winkler and his wife, Sherri, purchased a 50% interest in Gotcha International in 1996 from its co-founders Michael Tomson and Joel Cooper and majority interest in the company a year later. A year later, Winkler purchased title sponsorship in a venture to build an indoor snowboard and surfing park in Anaheim called Gotcha Glacier. That project has suffered delays and now is slated to break ground in March.
The next year, his company sponsored the former OP Pro surfing championship in Huntington Beach, renaming it the Gotcha Pro. The same year, Winkler teamed with Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. co-founders Henry Samueli and Henry Nicholas to form Broadband Interactive Group, now the owner of Gotcha International. n
