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Global
Surf Industries
Profile
Global
Surf Industries (GSI) operates from its world
headquarters in Manly on the Northern Beaches
of Sydney, Australia. Our wholly-owned distribution
operations in Australia and the USA are supported
by a network of distribution specialists in various
other countries (for individual details go to
the contacts page).
GSI was founded in June 2002 by Mark Kelly and
Lachlan Kekwick. In September 2002, GSI entered
into a joint-venture agreement with Cobra International
www.cobrainter.com.
Following the signing of the deal, Andre M. Plump,
of Cobra International, was appointed to GSI's
board of directors. After decades of cottage industry-style
operations, the time for a better way of supplying
surfboards to the international surfing market
had well and truly arrived.
Mark Kelly and Cobra International purchased Lachlan
Kekwick's shares in the business upon his exit
in October 2004. In 2006 we expanded the Board
of Directors to include Mark Chewter (CFO Cobra
International) & David Archer, a business
systems consultant. Both Mark and David bring
a wealth of knowledge and experience to GSI.
Today, GSI has a portfolio of 11 brands. We remain
very deliberate and strategic in our brand selection.
Each caters for a particular type of surfer with
a specific level of surfing ability. Whether you
are a first-day novice, a beginner, an intermediate,
an advanced or elite-level surfer, GSI has the
brand and model that is right for you.
Company Values and Beliefs:
* Life is better when you surf
This is our company mantra; it incorporates everything
that we appreciate about our life and the industry
that we love to work in. We only manufacture and
sell surfboards and we only market to surfers
or people who want to become surfers. We know
what a difference surfing has made in our lives
and love to share this.
* Passionate
We love what we do, we love our brands and our
business, we love the lives that we live and we
are passionate about our relationships with our
customers who help us reach the end consumers
of our products.
* Quiet achievers
Since day one we have been working hard to build
the vision we have for the business, we have achieved
a lot in a short space of time. We are about making
things happen rather than creating hype about
things that might happen. Many of our achievements
are things that people said could never happen.
* Ease of doing business with us/simplicity.
One of our long term goals is to have the biggest,
smallest company possible. To make this a reality
we have to keep all the procedures and dealings
we have with our customers simple and easy to
manage. Business should be done with the least
amount of fuss to achieve the best results and
ensure people like dealing with us.
* Profitability for all parties
Surfboards are no longer the hobby of the surf
industry. Surfboards must be profitable for them
to survive at the retail level. By ensuring our
retailers increase their profitability we are
insuring our business long term. At the same time
we must ensure that our profitability is there,
that our manufacturers and their raw material
suppliers? profitability is there as well. If
any of the links in this chain are broken then
our plan will fail.
* Internal personal development/teamwork/openness
We will continue to develop ourselves to do a
better job, have a better life, enjoy what we
do more through personal development. We learn
as a team, we learn from each other, we learn
from our customers, we learn from our consumers.
At all times to foster this learning environment
we must have open and honest dialogue, if our
lines of communication are closed then our minds
will be closed as well.
* Innovation/vision/creativeness
Having a vision is the foundation our company
was launched on, we challenge the status quo and
we are proud of this. Constant improvements through
creative thinking will always be part of our success
and the success of our customers and also the
level of enjoyment the end users of our products
have.
* Inclusivity/charity/family friendly/all types
of riders
We have a belief that surfing is for everyone,
it isn?t just about the top 44, for us it is about
everyone under them. The recreational surfers
who surf for the love of it. We share the aloha
spirit ? as they say in Hawaii. We give back to
people less fortunate and help them to understand
what surfing can bring to their lives.
* Play to win
Everyone has gone to a lot of trouble of setting
up our businesses, both ours and our customers,
we can never treat the time, effort or money spent
building the business as a hobby. Maximising the
returns on the effort, dollars and time invested
is the only way we can think about playing the
game of running our business.
* Appreciating what we have built
We will never become complacent with the way we
run our business, we will never take our customers
or consumers for granted. Appreciating all the
effort that has gone into the business from day
one will ensure that we only build on what we
have and make it more successful and prosperous
in the future.
* Our consumers & retailers appreciate our
professional approach
For us this business is our livelihood, our approach
to it and our approach to the way we run this
business must be to the best of our ability. Working
in a proactive professional manner is the only
way we can run the business so that our customers
and consumers have faith that we will be there
for them when they need us. That we will accept
the responsibility of being a leader in our chosen
field.
* Respect
On many levels respect is the key value for us
to be able to meet the values and beliefs that
we have mentioned above. Respect for our customers,
respect for our consumers, respect for the programs
we have in place, respect for ourselves and the
community we foster at Global Surf Industries.
All of this respect will keep us true to our word
and ensure our future will be positive and prosperous.
(Credit:
Global Surf Industries).
News
Press
Release
Orlando,
Florida 14 January 2008
Press
Release - Surf Expo - Hang Up System Launch a
huge Success
The January Surf Expo in Orlando saw the official
release of the Hang Up System for Surfboards in
North America. It was nothing short of a huge
success as more than 200 stores took orders forms
for the system and currently about 80 stores already
converting some or all of their retail surfboard
presentation to Hang Ups.
Many of the retailers that visited the Global
Surf Industries booth at the show said that it
was the best innovation they has seen there. The
device allows for surfboards to be hung by their
fin system using the patent pending Hang Up hook.
The system gives stores a huge amount of flexibility
in where they can display boards in their stores.
?I would like to see the board room out the back
of the store become a thing of the past? said
Mark Kelly ? President of Global Surf Industries.
? More and more stores are seeing that hardware
is where it is at. With the distribution of surf
clothing going way outside the surf channel the
one thing that surf stores can excel at is speciality
advice and sales in the hardware area. Having
hardware up the front of the store makes sense?.
The retail market has been screaming for a professional
surfboard display system for a long time. Many
of the racking systems that are available now
take up huge amounts of the retail floor and actually
end up damaging the boards. The Hang Up system
can be used on any hanging rack that is high enough
off the ground. You can even use regular slat
wall fitting. ?The system is so sturdy we hung
our SUPs off it at the show. People were amazed
at the space saving properties as well. We received
nothing but positive comments and orders at the
show. ? Said Kelly. The system has three separate
hangers for surfboards with FCS, Futures or Longboard
boxes. The Hang Up system is exclusively sold
by Global Surf Industries and their network of
international distributors around the world.
For more information on the Hang Up system go
to www.surfindustries.com/hangups
Websites
Global
Surf Industries
Global
Surf Industries - 2008 Noosa Festival of Surfing
Profiles
Surfing
Media
Man Australia does not represent Global Surf Industries
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