OBAMA January 20th 2009

I was walking in a Montreal back alley in the end of november 08 and to my BIG suprised I was quite shock when I saw this writting of FUCK OBAMA.Since we are in a time of change for the better I CAN'T imagine someone having a negative mind on Barrack Obama.

patthe

Incase has it !!

patthe

"Bargain shoppers were out in force between Christmas and New Year's taking advantage of retailers' need to clear out seasonal merchandise. As a result weekly sales increased in the final week of the fiscal month," said Michael P. Niemira, ICSC chief economist.

"Though the weekly increase does lend some comfort to how overall sales will fare for December, ICSC Research expects comparable-store sales will decline by approximately one percent for the month," Niemira added.

ICSC and Goldman Sachs also surveyed consumers over the past weekend, and found:
• Half of consumers said they spent less on holiday gifts than in 2007.
• More than 60 percent of shoppers out during the post-holiday period were searching for deep discounts, compared to just under 50 percent in 2007.
• Gift card sales dipped, and continued a two-year decline. Sales were the lowest since 2005.
• Likewise, gift card redemptions were slower in December than last year, though consumers said they would redeem in January at a faster pace than in 2008.
Comps around the globe

It's tough everywhere, though economists in one nation reported a small bright spot. Here's a roundup of global economic updates posted today from Bloomberg News:

• In New Zealand, consumer spending rose 2.6 percent in December. Deep discounting there lifted sales, though the economy is still in recession.
• In the European Union, retail sales fell in December, marking the seventh consecutive monthly decline.
• In England, consumer sentiment declined in December, to its lowest level since 2004, when the survey began.
• In France, retail sales and consumer sentiment dropped in December, reflecting the economic slowdown. The consumer sentiment index fell nearly to a record low reached in July.

patthe

The Wrestler

Altamont forecasting strong growth for 2009

Altamont was born three years ago when Andrew's contract with KR3W expired, Justin said. Andrew rides for Sole Tech shoe brand Emerica and told Justin there weren't a lot of options in the skateboarding world on the apparel side. They took the idea for a high-quality, stylish skate apparel line to Pierre and he loved the idea.

The mission was to create a line that reflected Andrew's fashion ethos, was not price-point driven and was created by a skate company for the core market. Sole Tech executives believe skateboarders often are driving the fashion trends but surf companies are the ones capitalizing on those trends on the apparel side.

"I always wanted to create skateboarding apparel with street fashion mixed in," Pierre said. "I knew if I brought on the right skateboarder to produce something original it would meet the demands in the marketplace. So when I met Andrew Reynolds, legendary street skater and saw his innovative fashion, I knew he could influence street skate wear and bring it to another level with Altamont. In this tough economy Altamont has exceeded our expectations in sales and is one of our fastest selling brands."
Andrew ReynoldsAndrew's vision

Andrew skates in the streets in cities around the world, and translates what he sees into his vision for Altamont, Justin said. He works closely with Altamont designer Saecha Clarke, and even shows the line to magazine editors in New York each season. A small example of Andrew's influence on the clothing is the "vampire," or pointed cuffs, on wovens. He wanted to make a line with Sole Tech because, "they are all about skateboarding and the owner is a skateboarder," he said via email.
Categories

altamont TshirtDenim is the No. 1 product category for Altamont, comprising 35 percent of sales. Altamont uses Japanese denim in its higher-end denim. Price points for Japanese denim range from $65 to $115. In spring 08, Altamont also added a basics denim range priced from $55 to $65 that has been well-received, Justin said. For fall '09, Altamont has five fits of denim. Altamont has also had good growth in wovens and T-shirts. Sole Tech searched out new factories that could produce higher-quality apparel for Altamont, which in turn elevated Sole Tech's other apparel lines, Justin said.
Doors

Altamont launched at retail two years ago with 250 domestic doors, and now is in 350. Justin said they hand-picked the accounts to debut in, because they wanted to be in stores that understood apparel and didn't shy away from higher price points. "We had to say no a lot," Justin said. "We plan to grow and evolve naturally. Eventually we may be in all of Emerica's (1,000 accounts). But we want to penetrate the accounts we are in now and grow slowly. Pierre understands how to build it right." Currently, Active is Altamont's biggest account and the brand has buildouts in 18 Active stores, Justin said. About 10 percent of Altamont's accounts are non-skateboard, streetwear boutiques.
Altamont jacketRevenue growth

Altamont sales grew 25 to 30 percent in 2008, and Justin said the still-small brand is forecasting 60 percent growth in 2009. So far, spring prebooks are above that 60 percent target, he said.
Pierre's vision for Altamont in the future

"In the next five years I want Altamont to continue to grow and inspire the core community to elevate skate wear. We are focusing on developing our customer that appreciates the quality, the fashion forward and street/skate culture that Altamont expresses and I see us growing our distribution worldwide as we follow where this customer chooses to shop. We want to be in doors where the customer embraces

patthe

Gatorade Gets Into Action Sports; Signs Ortiz, Hollingsworth

Gatorade recently signed a multiyear deal with 14-year-old skater Chaz Ortiz, who will be the cornerstone of the sports drink company’s action sports campaign, according to a story published today on the Sports Business Journal’s Web site. The brand also signed snowboarder Ellery Hollingsworth and BMX star Nigel Sylvester.

“Gatorade’s entrance into skateboarding, snowboarding and BMX makes it the first isotonic beverage in a sports landscape dominated by energy drinks and soda brands. It will join fellow PepsiCo brand Mountain Dew in a battle for attention alongside Monster, Red Bull and Rockstar energy drinks.

Jeff Urban, Gatorade’s senior vice president of sports marketing, said the brand is developing its action sports strategy and expects to have it completed over the next five weeks.

‘We’re not ready to talk about the depth and breadth of what we’re doing, but we’re going to be invested in the sport and a bit more visible across a number of platforms,’ Urban said. ‘As a leader, we want action sports athletes to see themselves in our brand. It’s an important part of our expansion.’”

patthe

Torgeir Bergrem joins Volcom Euro Team

Torgeir Bergrem joins Volcom Euro Team

17-year old Torgeir from Norway has been on our radar for quite a while now. Ever since our distributor up there started raving about this kid a few years back, we put him on the family team, and it didn't take him long to evolve and progress onto the Euro team.

Winning the 2008 Sweet Rumble, and getting 2nd at the 2008 Tacky Christmas Invitational is impressive enough, but what really won us over was when Torgeir jumped off a nearly 60foot cliff into a glaciar melt-off lake in shorts only.. (You can see this in the Euro Snow Family Team goes to Scandalnavia part 2 article HERE!!!)

Off snow, Torgeir seems to be a mellow kid who, kind of like a young Charles Bronson, speaks only when he deems it necessary. Even after firewater repeatedly gets thrown into the mix, Torgeir (as a stark contrast to Scandalnavians in general) chooses his words wisely.

Instead, he picks up a guitar, and does not give it any rest until the whole Scorpions catalog have resonated thru it....

In other words, a perfect rookie for the Volcom Snow Team...

Volcom cornered Torgeir over the X-mas holidays, and forced him to answer a couple of questions:

- Torgeir! Do you ever get confused with Torstein (Horgmo) since your names star with the same prefix, "Tor"?

Some people have actually asked me "ooo man, are you Torstein Horgmo??" i haven't gotten it more than a few times though, but it has always been at a party of some sort.. I think most people can tell the difference.

- Santa bring you anything nice for X-mas?

Guitar Hero world tour! So i've pretty much been rocking a fake guitar all christmas.

- Did you start the new year with a Bang?

A big one.

- What's on your schedule this winter? We know you'll be doing the Burton European Open, but have you got anything else lined up?

The BEO comes now in January, and after that nothing is 100% sure yet. I know i'll be doing my fair share of contests, and of course filming with a Norwegian film crew called Frosted films. They have a good project goin on.

- Have you got any of your riding on film out there?

Not much of the past few years, but the Frosted Films production will be published this fall, so check that out!

- When it comes to outerwear, what has been your favorite Volcom combo this winter and why?

I like the Bjorn V.Co- operative set, because I think the color comboes are supernice and the fit suits me good.

- Alright, we should finish this off... Anything else, aside from that fact that you snowboard and play guitar better than most, you'd ABSOLUTELY like the readers to know about?



patthe