here we go , page-162

guys...i have been working in retail the last ten years and i know a lot of guys who work in the fashion retail industry..

the strategic direction BBG took by getting into Retail was the correct one but just poorly executed...once they get their act togather.....clean up their stores......fix their stock issues / supply chain....they can mint money....

Here's a local example.....BBG pretty much controls most of the end retail chains ( like Surf Dive & Ski, Jetty surf etc...) that sell surf wear...so if it wants it could lock out its competitors like RIP CURL & QUIKSILVER out of the market through deranging their products.....also it gets to keep a very close eye in how their businesses are performing and for example what products are selling well of its competitors by selling their stock...

also one thing most people dont' get is that its not just surfers who shop for beach wear....there is a whole generation of teenagers who aspire for the image of a beach lifestyle etc.....who make up the primary target market for bbg....

Another misnoma is that there a severe online threat to BBG....again that is misinformed because they control their own brands.......so they decide which online stores for example sell their own brands....

Also i read a lot of comments from people sayign thier brand is overpriced.....its priced the way it is because they are selling an image....knocking them back for their pricing is like knocking Lacoste, Raplh Lauren, Oxford etc for their pricing and comparing there products to ones sold in target....its not apples and apples....

the reason why there are so many differnt parties reportedly looking at Billabong is that its blatently obvius that once they get their retail execution action togather.....fix the way they sell through / manage inventory and fix up their supply chain.....they will be worth many multiples of their current value....its a hard road / journey to do this....but it is possible.....just look at how Oroton here has changed itself over the last 5 years? and more recently Coles....

GO BILLABONG... :-)