Sparking a potential trade show battle, Surf Expo is on its way to Orange County, home of the rival Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo in Laguna Beach.
The Atlanta-based Surf Expo, which is owned by UK-based DMA Media, plans to debut a back-to-school apparel show at the Anaheim Convention Center next March 11 and 12, roughly a month after ASR’s Long Beach show geared for buyers of summer apparel lines.
“It was a surprise move that we had not anticipated,” said Joel Cooper, CEO of apparel maker Lost Enterprises, later adding, “this is going to be a battle, but the manufacturers and retailers will determine who will be successful.”
Traditionally, Surf Expo has held a January summer-lines show in Atlantic City and a September spring-lines show in Florida. ASR, which was founded 21 years ago, holds a spring show in September at the San Diego Convention Center, a spring show in September in Atlanta and a summer show in early February at the Long Beach Convention Center.
Although the ASR and new Surf Expo shows on the West Coast will target two different seasons,summer and back-to-school, respectively,those in the industry say there’s clearly a battle brewing between the two trade show operators. At issue is whether manufacturers will want to fund multiple trade shows, particularly in a slow economy.
And the ASR February show may be vulnerable. Exhibitors say they write fewer orders for product because the new fall lines are not out yet and most of their summer orders have already been written. The show has been considered more of an industry trendsetter than a place to do business.
Court Overin, general manager of VNU Expositions, Laguna Beach, which owns the ASR Trade Expo, feels his company’s show is more established here and targets a broader niche that encompasses more extreme sports as well as lifestyle brands.
“I don’t think the venue they will provide will serve the market as well as ours,” said Overin. “They produce a great surf show for people in the Southeast, but they don’t have anything like ASR has in terms of a lifestyle show. It’s not skate or urban. Of course we are concerned the competition is coming here, but I’m not concerned we wouldn’t win. We’ve been in the market for 21 years. Let the market decide.”
Members of the Surf Industry Manufacturer’s Association have been pushing ASR for the past five years to establish a back-to-school trade show on the West Coast. And ASR has been considering a new show, but is looking at sites in New York, Chicago, Dallas and Seattle, Overin said.
“2002 is the launching pad for a series of things coming in the next few years,” he said. “We’ve been talking with different facilities.”
That left Surf Expo organizers with an opening to come to OC.
“We started this knowing we had several of the major manufacturers supporting it,” said Lori Kisner, vice president of sports/retail for DMG World Media, Surf Expo’s parent company. “Quiksilver was very supportive and gave us a lot of information we needed to research this product. We knew there would be an overwhelming demand to start this show.”
Organizers of Surf Expo recently entered the under served back-to-school market with the purchase of a series of three trade shows from Ocean City-based Radshow. Founded in 1994 by Brad “B-Rad” Hoffman, the trade shows are held in Maryland, Florida and North Carolina.
The new show is expected to start out small, with roughly 300 exhibitors and 60,000-square-feet in Hall E of the Anaheim Convention Center. Surf Expo organizers plan to target surfwear manufacturers, many of whom are based in OC, as well as companies such as Levi Strauss & Co., Guess? Inc. and Jansen, Kisner said. In comparison, the Surf Expo in Florida attracts some 1,800 booths and ASR has roughly 600 booths. MKM, Huntington Beach, was hired to handle the trade show’s marketing and Surf Expo plans to hire an OC-based field marketing employee.
The move is not without precedent. In the 1980s, ASR was encouraged by manufacturers on the East Coast to establish a rival show in Surf Expo’s home state of Florida. But after one show, ASR pulled out.
“It was a well-done show, but the marketplace determined there shouldn’t be two shows and one needed to back off,” Overin said.
SIMA, which has more than 300 members, is a nonprofit organization whose funding comes from both ASR and Surf Expo, as well as events it puts on such as the annual Waterman’s Ball at the Ritz Carlton in Dana Point. Having the two rival trade shows in one market puts the association in a precarious position.
“We cannot endorse a trade show that is located anywhere West of the Mississippi because we have an exclusive deal with ASR, just as we have a deal with Surf Expo on the other side,” said Cooper who sits on SIMA’s trade show committee. “SIMA has not made any official statement. It’s a total shock to us that this is happening.” n
