Ocean Pacific Turns Back Clock to Lure Back Surf Shops
THAT ’70s SHIRT
By JENNIFER BELLANTONIO
This is your dad’s Op.
We’re talking collared knit tops with colorful stripes and wood buttons, old school surfers shredding on T-shirts and teeny-weeny corduroy shorts.
Irvine-based Ocean Pacific Apparel Corp. went back to its roots for its new Op Classic Collection. The goal: regain a spot in the hearts and racks of trendy surf shops, nearly all of which dropped the brand more than a decade ago after it went mainstream.
The company, which expects to post sales of $200 million this year, said it also has reverted to business tactics used by many of the old school surfers turned businessman back in the ’70s,peddling goods from the trunk of a car.
“We had to (approach surf shop owners) with the right team of people, and we had to do it extremely low key,” said Michael Marckx, vice president of advertising and marketing at Ocean Pacific.
To pitch the new line, Op enlisted veteran surf shop sales rep Tommy Gudauskas (known as Tommy G.) to knock on local surf shop doors. He had samples of Op’s Classic Collection retro clothing in his car.
And “One by one they’re signing up,” Marckx said.
Getting back into surf shops is a big feat for Op, which was at the top of the surfwear industry in the 1970s and early ’80s. A move into department stores and other mass retailers fueled sales but burned Op’s bridges with the specialty stores that drive surfwear fashion.
Op, which licenses its brands to 28 apparel makers, sees a return to surf shops as critical. It’s hoping to emulate the success of Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc., which has nimbly parlayed its cachet with surf and specialty shops into department store sales.
Op executives contend a move back into surf shops will bring new sales,and bolster its standing with department store buyers who take their cue from surf shops.
“If you can be successful in the core market then the larger department store arena wants you really bad,” said James Stark, president of The Rays Group in Costa Mesa, which holds a license for the Op and Op Classics brands. “Op Classics gives a separate identity to the company, but it can be used to prove to the bigger stores that Op is very valid and has a fashion direction.”
Op created its Op Classic line solely for specialty stores. The company licenses its Op brand, a boy’s and girl’s apparel collection, for sale in department stores. This spring, the company plans to launch Ocean Pacific, a line of men’s and women’s sportswear, home furnishings, accessories and luggage for sale in mid-tier and finer department stores.
Richard Baker, Op’s chief executive, has spearheaded the bid to recapture part of the core surf market. Baker came on board in 1997, a year before a fund run by investment firm Doyle & Boissiere LLC of Burlingame bought a majority stake in the company.
Baker said it was time to refocus on younger buyers. Ironically, the company is doing so by resurrecting the styles that made it popular with kids in the ’70s.
“For 40-plus guys like myself, we have a distinct view of Op and how it fits into our wardrobe,” said Frank Kaufman of accounting firm Moss Adams LLP’s Irvine office. “The 12- to 17-year-old does not have the same memories. One of my sons fits into that demographic and recently told me about this great new band called Aerosmith.”
But Op is a little late to the retro party, which designers such as Newport Beach-based Paul Frank Industries Inc. have been the life of for the past few years. The difference with Op, Baker contends, is the company is mining its own closet for throw-back fashions.
“I would argue that it’s virtually impossible to resurrect a brand like this if the brand didn’t have good legs,” Baker said. “We’re fortunate in that we’re reinventing Op to a brand new audience that didn’t grow up with it.”
Op Classic Collection looks like the company’s offerings from 30 years ago but with better materials and current colors, according to designer Nat Norfleet.
“The proof is in the pudding,” licensee Stark said. “When we’ve gotten the retailers to support (OP Classics) it has sold very well. The consumer likes it.”
But don’t look for Op Classics at your favorite department store, Stark said.
“It’s not going to be blown to a big mass distribution,” he said. “We’re going to make sure of that.”
A number of big surf and skate retailers have snatched up the offering, including Killer Dana in Dana Point, Jack’s Surf & Sport in Huntington Beach, Hobie Sports in Dana Point, Torrance-based Becker Surf and San Diego’s World Core surf and skate shop.
“It’s doing really well in my shop. I’m going to keep it,” said Chris Andrews, owner of Killer Dana surf shop, which hadn’t carried Op for years. “Surf shops will keep jumping on it because it’s a good seller.”
But now the real battle begins. To be really cool again, Op has to keep evolving its look and rise above nostalgia, Baker said.
“It’s got to be modern and relevant. It’s got be young and fun and very real,” he said. “If you can’t do that, than don’t even go there because the kids are too smart.”
“We know the surf category is a demanding market,” said Lionel Boissiere, a partner of Doyle & Boissiere. “We’ll be true to the image and innovative each and every season. I wouldn’t call it a challenge. I would just call it a corporate mission.”
Marketing is half of Op’s battle. The company has taken advertising back in-house, retained top male and female athletes and is running more ads to promote its brands. It also gave a new spin to the Op Pro (a big surfing event that disappeared a few years) and plans to attach the Op name to a variety of boardsport events.
“That’s where Op’s roots were,” Stark said. “That’s also where the action is in the boardsports arena. It’s not a 20- to 25-year-old customer. It’s a kid that’s driving that business.”
Stark said he is helping Op rejuvenate its department store brand. He got two Orange County surf and skate specialists, including Junior Jenks, the son of Op founder and surf board maker Jim Jenks, to help redesign the Op line and make it more appealing to a new audience.
