As wildfires stoked by abnormally strong Santa Ana winds ravaged the
Southern California interior over the past two weeks, the
sporting goods industry looked to the Action Sports and Golf markets,
where many industry companies have headquarters in the region.
At Duffs, which is located in the San Diego North County city of
Oceanside , VP of marketing R.P. Bess said, “So far we are back up and
running on a reduced schedule. Most of the office is working from home
if they really have things to get to and others are coming to get stuff
taken care of and then heading home to be with their families,” which
was more or less the typical response in regards to getting work done.
He noted that the fire came within 3 miles of some employees homes,
but that was the nearest.
At 686, which is based in Irvine , the office closed for the day with
many employees worried over evacuations. Director of marketing,
Kristin Cusic commented “Its insane out here the office is closed
today but were all ok.”
At Taylor-Made adidas Golf, the headquarters was just fine, but several
employees lived in and around the Lake Hodges area, which
was hit especially hard by the Witch Fire.
The fires also prompted the cancellation of the SGMA Sports &
Technology Convergence, which was scheduled for October 23-25 in La
Jolla ,
CA .
