Billabong has appointed Royce Cansler to director of specialty retailer relations, a newly created position.
As a 35-year veteran of the surf industry, Cansler comes to this position with a solid knowledge in the specialty surf retail arena, and has been involved in all phases of the surf world from sales and merchandising to design and production.
“Billabong recognizes the importance of the specialty store account base and has created a position to further strengthen our alliance with this key retail sector,” said Paul Naude, President of Billabong, USA. “With his extensive industry knowledge and experience, Royce is a great addition to the Billabong team.”
Cansler comes to this position most recently from 3 Point Distribution, manufacturers of Ezekiel located in Irvine, CA, where he acted as vice president of sales, merchandising and design. With seven years under his belt at Ezekiel, Cansler has done everything from developing and growing the brand through sales, marketing and production, to operations, financing and developing global license agreements.
Prior to Ezekiel, Cansler put in 17 years with Gotcha Sportswear, Irvine, CA, starting out as west coast sales rep and moving on to a market analyst, national promotions manager, merchandising manager, brand manager and national sales manger. Cansler also spent 10 years in retail and surfboard manufacturing in Santa Cruz, CA as the general manager/buyer for Session Surfboards.
“I am excited to work with such a talented group of people at Billabong and thankful to continue to live the lifestyle I promote,” said Cansler.
