| | |
|
  
Mike Sciarra: Im stoked to see Taj Burrow win the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Event.He edged out the very talented Jordy Smith.Here is how close the final results were on the last heat.
QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST FINAL RESULTS
1 - Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.57
2 - Jordy Smith (ZAF) 12.56
 Mike Sciarra: Spring is around the corner. The weather is improving and is ready for good surf. Looking forward to the 2010 summer and wearing a little thinner wetsuit. Water temp has finally broken into the 40's, and with some gentle southeast winds it may climb up into the mid to upper 40's by the middle to end of March. Just got a call from Joe G. and ESA is ready to get into full swing. Surf contest starting April 17th in Cape May and climaxing in Cape Hatteras with the regionals in the middle of September. Kona Sports will be sponsoring two contests July 10th and 17th in North Wildwood, NJ. July 10th All 2A/3A short board and body board divisions and July 17th open short board and long board divisions. Joe and Lisa do a fantastic job promoting the ESA, and putting these contests on. This should be an exciting year for the konasports.com surf team, and ESA. Kona stoked to be on board with Joe and Lisa and the South Jersey ESA members. Mike Sciarra: Now that I’m back to Kona I can see that everyone is getting geared up for the spring and summer months. All around the store employees are getting all of our merchandise organized. Every day we are getting more of the newest styles in from all of our major brands like Billabong, Quiksilver, O’Neill, Volcom and many others. The mood around the store is much better knowing that the brutal winter that we had is mostly behind us and that we will hopefully have a warm summer that brings plenty of vacationers. Mike Sciarra: I had gone to check the beach after being away on vacation and I was surprised to see that the scene in North Wildwood was completely different. The sand has been mounded up along the beaches not only due to construction, but the storms that pounded the east coast have affected them as well. I noticed that the break of the waves has changed as well. Now instead of 10th-12th streets having the primary break, 15th street has an unusual point break going on and 1st street has picked up as well. I guess with all the sand being pushed around, the beach is going to take some time to get back to the way it usually is.
 Mike Sciarra: I had talked to my sister last night who currently lives on the Island of Kauai, Hawaii and she was filling me on the Tsunami scare in Hawaii. She is a wedding coordinator on the island weddingsonkauai.com. It was a total night mare for the weddings that were planned on that day they all had to be rescheduled everyone’s travel plans also had to be adjusted. I know the feeling of going through tsunami scare, having attended University of Hawaii in the 1970's, while there the Big Island received a 2 Earthquake shocks followed by a Tsunami that mostly affected the Southern Side of the Big Island. Fortunately for myself living on the Island of Oahu at the time we did not receive any aftershock from this but I remember the panic that everyone was feeling, not knowing if we were in danger or not. This was the scene on the North Shore overlooking Princeville with hundreds of spectators drawn to watch and see if the tsunami was in fact going to hit the coast.
 Comments
Josh France ( Philadelphia) said: Uncle Mike I sure am ready for summer. Despite the weather I was still able to get surf session in AC yesterday.
Mike Sciarra: I am back in Wildwood and this pretty much explains the conditions. Snow, Cold and Miserable. These pictures are taste what the east coast is dealing with today. Everyone up here is probably chomping at the bit for summer. Any on the East Coast ready for summer?
> 
 Mike Sciarra: I am actually pretty impressed with Quiksilvers new Cypher line. They have perfect stretch material that quick dry, ultra lightweight and most of all no rash. I personally can't stand sitting on a board with a pair of boardshorts that are not stretchable and are giving you a rash. The boys up north had sent me down a pair of Quiksilver Cypher Massive Men’s Boardshorts in Black . The other day I used them in the pool of course because of how cold the ocean is here in Florida and needless to say they are the most comfortable boardshorts I have ever worn. The marketing strategy was unreal putting the four best surfers Kelly Slater, Dane Reynolds, Jeremy Flores & Julian Wilson in the campaign was genius. I know this summer and as well as online these things will fly off the rack. I just hope we can stock enough. Anyone else have the luxury of trying these new boardshorts?
Mike Sciarra: While at the surf show I was able to get a good look at the newest brands to hit the industry. With today’s economic struggles it is very hard to start a successful brand or business. I was fortunate enough in Florida to spend some time with the Ergo family and get a better insight of what they do. We have decided to partner with this New Jersey home grown company because I feel like they are doing all the right things. They have a strong marketing presence, they make some pretty cool cutting edge product and they’re from New Jersey.
Take a look at our link on Ergophobia.com here is link http://www.ergophobia.com/dealers.htm.
Mike Sciarra Quiksilver.com has recently launched a p2p program that we are really excited about. This is going to help grow our Quiksilver biz tremendously. Rusty has also partnered up with us by giving us an online banner on Rusty.com. This is also a great addition to our online business. We currently are excited about the growth opportunity with a handful of brands in the industry. This week I will be making my trek up the East Coast back to New Jersey. I will have to adapt to the colder weather, this is something I am not looking forward to. At my age I do not surf in the winter like I used to. I just can’t get the motivation to throw on a 4/3 wetsuit, Booties, gloves and hood for a few small jersey waves. I would beg to differ if we had the swells that California gets. Any comments about Jersey winter surfing?? Mike Sciarra: Since being in Florida for this past month there has been absolutely no surf. I have to resort to playing lots of tennis to keep me busy. Down here in Melbourne Beach all the surf shops are receiving all their new spring merchandise. I went into Ron Jons the other day and they have good representation and some new spring collections. I hear all the snow is melting back home and hopefully spring is coming sooner than later. Also, here in Melbourne there was a tragic accident where three kids were killed on the train tracks, which is only about 10 miles from where we live. I still can’t believe that happened. Mike Sciarra: After being in the surf industry for 40 years I have seen a lot of brands come and go. With a tough climate still upon the horizon, I feel that there are only a handful of brands that understand what it takes to perceiver through these rocky times. The companies that have partnered and worked closely with their Key Brick and Mortar as well as online retailers are companies that quite frankly are here to stay. The companies that are going to saturate the market and put their product in every dept store and every online shop are the companies that will never last. I recommend to these companies that yes they have certain financial expectations to meet but these companies were built on the love of surfing and the lifestyle. These were the values that I put into while creating Konasports and these are the values that I pass along to my kids as well as employees.
Mike Sciarra: With some time to spare, I was paging through a recent issue of Transworld Surf magazine and thinking about how the surf industry has changed over the last year and half .The
boom times of the last decade have given way to a sober realism. No
longer do you see new shops opening every year as in the past, but you
see many shops either contracting or just plain closing their
doors.Tight credit lines increasing costs, and less customers base.
Some of the manufacturers have turned to alternate distribution to move
product such as department and mall stores, which in turn, has hurt
many of the specialty shops. As an east coast store, we all know how
depended shops are on the 60-90 day summer window selling season , even
though it has always been our bread and butter. It takes on a whole
new meaning in these slower economic times, higher priced men's and
women's swim wear become a tougher sell with stores like Target ,
selling at a much lower price point. However, cutting edge name
brand products with core lines and superior customer service will put
all of us in a better position to make customers satisfied with their
shopping experience. Now that the internet shopping has become such a
huge market place, shops like us[konasports.com] have opened up the
surf products to thousands of new customers worldwide. Selection and
customer service is the key for the surf business to be viable in the
future . Mike Sciarra: This is been by the far the coldest winter that I have spent in Florida. It has shaken up the ecosystem and forced the wildlife and residents to adapt to a colder climate. Surfers in Florida are also trying to adapt with their 4/3 wetsuits and booties. This is a new concept for them which they are reluctant to convert to. Its amazes me how in Vancouver where the Olympics they experiencing warmer climate than normal and the East Coast has experiences the coldest winter that I have seen in my lifetime. I have been checking out the new spring arrivals that we have been receiving and I already have my favorites items picked out.
Mike Sciarra: Another sunny day down here in Florida. Meanwhile up north Brendan and Chris have told me that power has finally been restored in Wildwood and shipping has begun. They said that this has been the worst storm that they have ever seen and that we ended up with close to 3ft of snow. Blizzard conditions have seriously impacted the financial area in Wildwood. They said there when the spring surfing begins there will still be mounds of snow. We apologize to our customers for the delay in shipping, but our shipping department will be working around the clock to get you your packages. Mike Sciarra: I’m still down in Florida and it has been extremely cold here, but nothing like what Wildwood has gotten hit with. This is the coldest winter that Florida has ever seen. Chris and Brendan are up north and said that they have received almost 2 feet of snow and the electric is still not working in most parts in Wildwood. This is the worst winter storm that Wildwood and I have ever seen. I’m very optimistic that spring is around the corner and I that soon enough I will be surfing and walking around in boardshorts. Here are some photos from my boys in Wildwood.
 Mike Sciarra: Mike: I just got off the phone with Brendan and Chris they had a good day yesterday at ASR in San Diego. I heard they made out well. They are pretty excited to bring back some new ideas and vision for Kona. I just wanted to comment on that shark attack in Florida. It is more likely to get struck by lighting then attacked by a shark. Just keep surfing and enjoy the water. Let me know your reaction on the shark attack. Keep up the Good work Kona Surf Team. Mike Sciarra said: It is a good day in sunny Florida. I just checked the waves at Spanish house and it's choppy. The northeast wind is not too good. I just heard from Chris and Brendan, they are on there way to ASR in San Diego which should be good insight into the industry. They went to go see Dan at Quiksilver and heard they are going p2p as an additional option for checkout, which we are happy about. I will be back to you guys with any new info. Mike Sciarra said: I just got a good surf session at Spanish house. The waves were 4ft with an off shore west wind. Water temp 64 degrees. I just heard from Chris and Brendan they went to the La Jolla company yesterday to talk with the crew and get some idea of the direction we are taking the brand. They also meet with fox to see what they have going on and how it can work into our game plan. Brendan said they went to surfside to check out the store. They love the design and layout it makes a great experence for the shopper. They took some pictures and are hoping build off the idea and make part of our expansion plan . Today they meet with Hurley , Quiksilver, RVCA and Electric let's see what happens there.
Mike Sciarra said: Cape May County received a major snow storm due to a coastal storm. Sometimes, these storms produce some good waves when the low pressure hangs off the coast. It was a fast moving storm and did not develop to much... Anyway the water is cold at 41 degrees so why would anyone want bear the elements? We have the right wetsuits to keep you warm if you dare to enter the frigid waters. This week the weather is suppose to warm up and it will melt some of the snow. I also heard we might get another coastal storm the end of the week, so lets wait and see. Brendan and Chris just got out to California last night and they will be stopping by the big clothing companys to see their operations and how we can work more closely with them to expand our business. I will keep you guys informed. If anybody has any ideas please let me know. Have a good day .. Local News
I attended your Thurs. night presentation and believe you are onto something that will serve as a model for all Catholic schools on a nationwide basis! The Sciarra Family - - Mike Class of 1966, Dave 1969, Pete1980, Ellie 1972, Kay 1985 Brendan 2000 Chris 2003 are honored to sponsor the new Wildwood Catholic Academy tennis team. I also want to express my gratitude for the leadership of the Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders for their passing a strong resolution in support of WCHS. Speaking on behalf of so many who attended, we were impressed by Freeholder Director Beyel showing up and participating in the presentation. This is leadership. This is why I am proud of you all and our county government. Thank you. Why do you think that The Rocks should be kept open in Wildwood Crest??
The Rocks has been one of the best breaks in Wildwood since the 1960’s. People have been surfing there for years with no problems and that shouldn’t change now. There should be no reason why people can’t surf there without getting hassled and they defiantly shouldn’t close the break for good…
Comments
| |
| | |
|
|