WE INTERVIEW INDUSTRY EXPERTS, DELIVER INSIGHTS AND IMPORTANT NEWS ARTICLES AND HIGHLIGHT THE LATEST BRANDS IN OUR BI-WEEKLY NEWSLETTER FOR INDUSTRY PERSONNEL ACROSS CANADA.
Paul has been responsible for much of the KNOWSHOW branding over the last 15 years and as we head in a new direction, who better to sit down with than the man himself and talk branding, pandemic ventures and how the industry has evolved.
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Momentum continues to push the shop-local movement while curating globally. With in-store activations, they have a strong focus on their neighbourhood while constantly trying to enhance both their in-store and online shopping experience. We caught up with Momentum’s owner Asif Moola to talk business, review the last couple of years and get an idea of what the future holds.
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Growing up on the Northern beaches of Sydney and receiving his first Rip Curl wetsuit for his 9th birthday, Nick always had a strong connection to the Rip Curl brand. Starting his career in the Media & Advertising Industry, Nick worked with brands such as Qantas, Nestlé, L’Oréal, and 20th Century Fox. After being introduced to snowboarding at the ripe old age of 22, Nick packed his bags and headed to Canada to do a season at Big White. One season turned into seven. During his time at Big White he was tasked with opening, managing, and buying for the first snowboard shop at the resort.
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J.S. has been working in retail/wholesale board-sports and fashion for 25 years. Starting on the sales floor of skate/snow/surf shops in Ontario and Nova Scotia, his passion for the three board-sports brought him to BC in 2006. Shortly after arriving he began working in the wholesale/distribution side of the business as a brand manager for various skate/action sports brands, eventually becoming the National Sales Manager for Sanuk Footwear and ultimately led to him starting his own agency in 2015. His agency Way Dangerous Sales represents Adelio Wetsuits, Banks Journal, Lost Surfboards, Psycho Tuna, Speaqua Sound Co, and Wonderland Sunglasses.
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Layback Co, a hammock company founded in 2015 by friends Adam Cook and Justin Chorney is named after an old-school classic skate trick and the friend’s laidback approach to life. After a successful appearance on Dragons Den which saw all of the Dragons vying for their business opportunity the brands business kicked into gear but production issues hampered any immediate success. Now with new business and creative partners involved and production issues sorted, Layback Co is back and excited to get back to it! We sat down with Adam Cook to catch up!
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Tough Duck was founded in Winnipeg in 1939 by 5th generation clothier Abraham Rich. Abe was a young fabric cutter, new to Canada and working at a pant factory. One day, Abraham asked his boss for a 10 cents/hour raise. Instead of a raise, Abe was fired, and “Winnipeg Pants and Sportswear” was born.
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Heather Favalaro got her start in the industry working the phones at the front desk of a well-known Vancouver distribution business before returning home to Ontario manage ski and snowboard events at Blue Mountain. However, the call of the West Coast would pull her back and Heather landed with Ed Lachelt and the team where she managed the women’s division of Element for almost three years. Ultimately Heather made the move back to Ontario where she spent close to 8 years managing brands including Cheap Monday and Just Female amongst others for C2 Apparel. In 2018 Heather left C2 to open her own retail store, homme|femme in Collingwood and not long after joined the sales team at Timebomb to represent Minimum and Dr Denim for Ontario. We took a minute to catch up on life, chat retail, pivots and the return of tradeshows!
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The Choice in Cranbrook, BC, began life in 1996 as Boarders Choice and was originally owned by Pro Skateboarder Paul Machnau, what started as a small space to chill, watch skate videos, and occasionally sell a few t-shirts has since changed owners, moved a few doors down and is now known simply as The Choice. We sat down with owner Joey Sandberg to chat turning 40, business during the pandemic and thoughts about getting back to tradeshows!
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Born from workwear roots in the form of Williamson-Dickie Mfg. Co back in 1922, as a bib overall company, Dickies has since become the largest workwear manufacturer in the world. Time passed, and this tough tailoring influenced their service industry clothing and eventually, their streetwear. When skaters picked up on the hard-wearing nature of Dickies apparel in the 80s and 90s, they knew it could provide skateboarding pants that would survive scrapes on concrete, steel, timber and asphalt. In the 90’s Julien Stranger and the Anti-Hero team and SF Based skaters started wearing Dickies. They made it cool, and by skating in it, the influence started. Now, as long as you fit in your pair, you’ll fit in wherever you skate.
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Tribute Boardshop in Nelson, BC opened its doors in 2003 and is fast approaching its 18-year anniversary! Owner Shane Johnsen is close to hitting a significant milestone himself, after spending 25 years in the Nelson snowboard and skateboard retail business. From pandemic pivots to new ventures, we sat down with Shane to catch up on life and business.
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Empire ushered in a new era of skate and snowboard retail with the opening of their first store in August 1999. Now more than 20 years later with over 10 stores across Quebec they continue to redefine the standards in action sports retail. We took some time out with Director of Purchasing, Kris Lee to find out how they have navigated the last 18 months and what their hopes are for the future.
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For the last 20+ years Scott Murray-Burrows has been actively involved in all aspects of the action-sports, lifestyle and fashion wholesale business. Working with numerous brands and companies during that time, Scott has built up some impressive credentials and is no stranger to KNOWSHOW. Now joining Cube Media as their New Sales and General Manager for the show, Perry Pugh sits down to catch up with Scott on his exciting new role!
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For over 25 years, Ed Lachelt’s agency – Lachelt Marketing – has been putting in the work. Over the years they’ve successfully managed countless in-demand brands and through the standard set by Ed’s effort and customer service, the agency has built an impressive customer list of over 400 accounts in Western Canada.
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If you have been around this business for any amount of time, you’ve witnessed Jennifer Rainnie’s hustle. She has played a major part in the sales, marketing and distribution of many influential swimwear brands for over 20 years. In 2015, armed with a vision and her trademark hard work, she set out to create her own brand Malvados and has been at the helm of all creative, sales & marketing initiatives for this growing company since.
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Garret Louie needs no introduction. Working at the helm of some of the most influential companies in the lifestyle-fashion & nightlife, his fingerprints are all over our business and the culture that flourishes around it. We caught up with Garret to check in on the biz, his experience and what the pandemic has taught him, and the joy of cleansing.
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