Interview by Jeff Carvalho and Frank the Butcher.
How important was it to open a store in LA. What was the mindset in choosing LA as the next city for this big store?
GD - One thing about Burton is that our line is huge. Between what we do; Channel Islands, Gravis, ANALOG. Our dealers are great but they are only able to represent a small portion of the line.
What we really wanted to do with the retail shop was to showcase what the brand was about. The biggest barrier we faced in the past was having a shell large that was enough... that allowed us to profile what the brands were about. This one specifically is about Channel Islands and Burton. When we found the spot... we saw it and thought its got to be our store. We needed the building that would allow us to do what we wanted to do it. We're in no rush to open more store but LA was a perfect place to profile all our brands and customers here will have a real appreciation for what we do. When you guys comes down, you'll know what we're talking about it. Its a true reflection of who we are as brands.
Someone will be looking for an AK jacket in a smoked camo in SMALL and the chances of them finding that amongst our retailers are pretty slim since the line is so wide but now they have a mecca they can come to for all our brands and see all things Burton, all things Channel Islands... Its 11000 s/ft. Its pretty massive. I am really proud of it. Hopefully the people of LA will agree.
Hiroshi brought up one of his next interests in creating a summer line for Burton and he touched upon how global warming may be touching on a lighter line.. what are the chances of that?
GD - Global warming should be a 4 letter word in our industry. Its a reality. I would love to do a summer line. We've definitely been talking about doing a Idiom tip on a summer line... for surf specific line... but I hope we can turn this global warming thing around. I hope we never have to forget about snowboarding.
I dont think snow will go away. I find it absolutely important that you guys are thinking and talking about... trans-seasonal wear. How much does that play a part in how you design.
GD - We try to keep Burton pretty pure. Pure to snowboarding. We've done apparel as well and we tried to make it very specific ... but driven by what our riders want to wear. Yeah its apparel but its very much driven by our team. The company established in 77. We're true to snowboarding. Thats why we have our other brands... Channel Island is pure summer. Analog is 4 season... but we want to keep [Burton pure snowboarding]. You wont be seeing any Burton rollerblades coming down the line.
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