09 | 04 | 2008
Media Presence
By Elizabeth Malloy
The Action Sports Retailer (ASR) trade event comes to the San Diego Convention Center Thursday, allowing retailers of surfboards, skateboards, off-road motor sports and other similar sporting goods to show off their wares.
This week’s event, the second ASR show in San Diego this year, comes on the heels of two advancements in San Diego’s action sports industry.
In March, local technology trade organization CONNECT announced the creation of a sub-group called Action Sports Innovators, which serves as a resource for start-up action sports companies.
Then in August, San Diego law firm Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP announced the creation of an action sports practice group, which caters to companies and entrepreneurs who specialize in surfing, biking, snowboarding and other related industries.
The ASR trade show has been held bi-annually in San Diego almost every year since 1990, according to the San Diego Convention Center. A show also was held at the convention center in January.
The fall show is expected to draw about 20,000 attendees, according to group show director Andy Tompkins, and about 540 exhibitors are scheduled to have displays.
With its warm weather, expansive coast line and proximity to the mountains, San Diego is home to many action sports companies and ancillary clothing and shoe companies. Bessell Surfboards, Reef sandals, Nixon watches and others are located in the region, and skateboarding legend (and Birdhouse Skateboards founder) Tony Hawk lives in the county.
Tompkins said about 70 percent of action sports companies are either headquartered or have offices in San Diego and Orange counties.
“The reason we chose San Diego (for the conference) is the industry is very passionate about their sports, the lifestyle, the environment,” Tompkins said. “San Diego embodies a lot of what action sports is about.”
ASR was founded 27 years ago by two entrepreneurs who felt companies involved in sports like surfing, skateboarding, biking -- and the clothing that accompanies them -- needed a place to gather and reach retailers.
ASR is now headquartered in San Juan Capistrano and owned by Neilson Business Media. The firm hosts several trade shows a year. The event in San Diego is still the biggest.
The main point of the conference is for product creators to meet face to face with retailers, Tompkins said, but it also is a way for retailers to catch on to trends. Being from New York, Tompkins said he sees just how many ideas in the action sports industry eminate from California, and said it's important for retailers to see that too.
“The business operators can see what’s happening in California. Breathe the air, pop into retail shops, see what people are wearing downtown (in San Diego),” he said.
“And on top of all that, San Diego has just an unbelievably beautiful and efficient and professional convention center,” he added.
The ASR trade show runs through Saturday.
Copyright © 2008 by The Daily Transcript. All Rights Reserved.