Billabong International Limited business is a clothing retailer that produces products such as skateboards, snowboards, watches and other accessories. This company was originated in 1973 when it was founded on the Gold Coast in Australia. Gordon Merchant and his wife Rena were the owners of this corporation that has started off as a small business entity until it gathered worldwide exposure and became a big household corporation name. Back then, in 1973, Gordon and his wife started selling surf boards in the hope of receiving revenue that will help them survive. Each surfboard that they sewed up and made were sold for $4.50. Thus, in only the first year of their expenditure, they sold a total of 5000 surfboards. As a result of their unexpected …show more content…
In addition, they also developed a logo which symbolizes an image of a wave. The couple then started to advertise their company to all surfboard holders and wanted to promote its ever-increasing image. During the last few years of the 70's, "Billabong" has gone all over Australia and many other stores have been built due to its popular reputation around the country. By the 80's, this company was ready for some international exposure due to its local success. Mr. Merchant wanted to firstly focus on the North American markets and wanted to determine if their brand was successful enough to continue going worldwide. Fortunately for Mr. Merchant and his wife, their corporation racked in the profits and they were successful in their approach. As a result of the North American success, the couple then decided to divert their attention to a different number of territories such as New Zealand and Japan. In 1981, history has been made as the annual sales has reached up to $1M. In addition, in 1984, "Billabong" has sponsored its first main surfing event in Hawaii for the World Final Surfing Contest. In the last 80's, they shifted their focus on …show more content…
The industry has over 6,000 staff worldwide with its shares that is included in the Australian Securities Exchange. Billabong's international products is distributed in over 100 countries and there are approximately 10,000 stores worldwide. It's revenue is mostly generated in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Brazil and also in continents such as North America. The company's brand is marketed throughout the world with professional athletes using the product's name and logo. On the other hand, in 2013, the industry suffered a huge blow as the company wrote the value of its brand to zero as there was a lot of debt, store closures and staff lay-offs. By the end of the financial year of 2012, it was estimated that Billabong lost $536M. 158 stores have vanished, 75% of its suppliers and 15% of its European staff have gone which forced the industry to sign a $386M deal with Oaktree Capital Management and Centerbridge Partners. Billabong's investment in their retail stores is the reason why they have managed to become a worldwide brand and generated a lot of profit. However, once their brand lost its footing, other competitors stepped into the Australian Market in an aim to overcome Billabong. As a result, market conditions became tougher and Billabong was eventually exposed to these conditions. In 2014, its revenue is valued at $1.34B. It's net income