Action Sport Retailer (ASR) said that with three months until its next show in September, over 300 brands have already committed to the event. Among the brands, Billabong, Volcom, Quiksilver, O’Neill, Vans, Element, Fox, Roxy, Oakley, Reef, Rip Curl, Nixon, Body Glove, Lucy Love, DaKine, L Space, Neff, Independent, Powell, Sector 9 and Osiris will show spring or in some cases summer lines at ASR.


 


“Consumer confidence is rebounding with many retailers joining economist in looking for recovery late this year,” says Andy Tompkins, ASR Group Show Director. “For action sports retailers buying correctly for spring 2010 may be the most important decisions they make for their business’ future.”


 


“Vans continues to partner with ASR at a high level for many good reasons, but perhaps none more important than the shows provide us a platform to clearly and effectively communicate our complete brand message,” says Doug Palladini, VP of Marketing at Vans. “With several hundred of our key accounts and media contacts in one room, we can both reinforce our footwear leadership message while shining a bright light on our emerging product categories in apparel and accessories.”


 


“It is very important to make the face-to-face connections with the Sales Managers and CEOs of brands we work with, especially when things are tricky as they are now,” Richard O’Reilly, Co-Owner Spyder Surf, who is sending 8-10 buyers for his stores and online business. “We were pretty aggressive this spring and will be slightly more so for next spring. Now more than ever we’re looking for newer, up-and-coming brands to be important to our business.”


 


Boutique geared, high-end apparel brands will show at both ASR and the adjacent CLASSASR event.