Diversification was the word as Quiksilver took the stage in Nantucket, with company CFO Steve Brink pointing to three key areas to exemplify his point. Focus on diversity of brands, distribution and category are key in the company’s strategy to represent more than just a surf brand.

Brink pointed out that the company that was built on a board short now saw the category represent less than 6.0% of sales.

The Quiksilver CFO emphasized that ZQK is a brand-driven company, not item-driven. The point is well represented by the fact that Quiksilver is now 13 brands, either at retail or in incubation. The Quiksilver brand is now just 56% of the business versus 95% 10 years ago. Roxy is now 31% of the business and the other eleven brands make up the balance. Brink said that ultimately Roxy could be bigger than Quik.

The presentation also highlighted a broad distribution base, but one that is still highly focused on surf and “Other” specialty. The numbers for the Surf shops include the company owned Boardriders Club stores and “Other” specialty includes PacSun, The Buckle, etc…

Europe is now 40% of the business, again highly focused on the surf shops and the U.S. is 54% of sales. The company also pulls in royalty income on $40 million in licensed regions.


>>> The company has done a good job balancing diverse brand messages with a single corporate message. They build a micro-culture from scratch while others attempt to acquire the brand cache…