Gordon merchant biography billabong wife

Roaming the globe with a surfboard and a laptop, crafting digital stories that ride the wave of surfing culture.

Gordon merchant children

In , surfer and shaper Gordon Merchant and his wife Rena founded the Billabong company in Gold Coast, Queensland Australia to make swimsuits for bathers and surfers. Thanks to the success obtained and the tremendous local reputation achieved, in he began to manufacture also surf-influenced clothing such as t-shirts or pants. In the decade of the 90's, Billabong expanded its catalog to other sliding sports like Skate and Snowboard, obtaining worldwide the same success as with Surf.

After a broad restructuring of the company at the end of the 20th century, the foundations for an initial IPO in Australia established in through a public offering of shares. This gave him more momentum and the financial capacity to grow the business. In March , the Billabong International Ltd. Later the Billabong family continued to grow with the acquisition of 3 new companies in Honolua Surf , a brand of surf apparel and accessories founded in in Hawaii; the emerging sports shoe brand Kustom and Mrs.

Palmers Surf Wax , a favorite paraffin brand for surfboards. In , he took over a small surf culture business, and in he controlled Nixon , the luxury watch, and accessories brand. In , Billabong continued with business acquisitions and bought Xcel Wetsuits , a neoprene wetsuit company founded in by Ed D'Ascoli in Sunset Beach, Hawaii; and Tigerlily, an Australian brand that specializes in swimsuits and clothes for girls and young women.

In he bought DaKine, the high-quality tableware accessories firm founded in in Haiku, Hawaii. At the end of , the already extensive group entered the online sales channel through the acquisition of Swell based in the United States and the purchase of a share of the Australian Surfstitch. In , Billabong improved its rollerblading offer with an agreement to license the Plan B skateboard brand based in California.

And that same year he acquired the RVCA brand, a surf and skate clothing company founded by Pat Tenore and Conan Hayes in Costa Mesa, California; is made with the Canadian retail chain West 49; and completes the purchase of the Australian companies Jetty Surf, a jetty store established in ; Surf Dive 'n' Ski SDS , founded in and with more than 85 items stores of the best surf, skate and snow brands in the world; and Rush Banner, a small banner and banner printing company founded in Also, it also sponsors other events such as the Billabong XXL, in search of the most significant wave in the world; the World Junior Championships , for the smallest surfers; and the Billabong Jack McCoy Surf Film Festival, the most important Australian surf film festival.