Word: velcro
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Here in Velcro Valley, as this ragged patch of the industrial landscape is known, a surfwear or skatewear company that catches the attention of style leaders--the best skaters, surfers or snowboarders in any coastal clique--can in a year swell from $5 million in annual sales to $100 million...
...hard to stick around in Velcro Valley. Successful firms have erupted from the Orange County youth-apparel industry to become globally recognized brands--among them, Quiksilver, Oakley, Billabong USA and Stussy. Yet just as many such labels--including Gotcha, Lightning Bolt, Vision Street Wear, Jimmy-Z, Maui & Sons, Mossimo and others--rode huge waves of sales only to wipe out in a few years...
Hundreds of companies marketing clothes and accessories dedicated to the "board-sports" life-style are operating in Velcro Valley. They range from Oakley, the $200 million sunglasses-and-footwear firm housed in a futuristic, $47 million hilltop bunker, to smaller fry like Black Flys, Split and Volcom, crowded into Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach industrial parks...
...growing skateboard-shoe company with $40 million in annual sales. "Look at Nike. They're the best marketing machine in America, and they couldn't buy their way into skateboarding." Ironic that in the pre-nose-ring generation, Nike invented core. Coreness can reach ridiculous extremes. Almost every Velcro Valley firm has erected a half-pipe skateboard ramp on its premises. "We used to have one right out in the middle of the place," says Volcom's Woolcott, "but skateboards were, like, hitting people at their desks." Bummer...
...those who succeed in communicating core, the youth-apparel industry is a wholesome business activity. Teenagers spent $91.5 billion last year, and the men's and women's active-wear markets grew from $69 billion to $73 billion, according to the NPD Group. For leading Velcro Valley manufacturers like Quiksilver, that means a one-year, 37% increase in sales, to $316 million. Smaller firms like Hurley, Split, Girl, World, Ezekiel, Rusty and Shorties are reporting steady growth on sales of anywhere from $10 million to $70 million...