Interestingly I went up to the Billabong store here in Melbourne...

Interestingly I went up to the Billabong store here in Melbourne the other week – only to find it closed.
This was a brand new location and fit out in the Melbourne CBD and opened last year selling only the Billabong brand.

In many ways I’m not surprised as when I did go up there in the past it was never busy and often I was the only one in there. But I guess this highlights the struggle of surf brands to recapture the urban youth market.
On the upside I was in Hawaii last August and the Billabong store in Waikiki was always reasonably busy. Again I guess this highlights that at beach and surf locations there is still demand, but surf brands may find it difficult to grow sales going forward.