Below you will find helpful and relevant articles that we carefully curate for the benefit of our B.R.A. Retail Members almost every day. Be sure to scroll through the most recent article or use the Search/Lookup feature to find topics and keywords related to articles that may help you to lower costs, increase margins or create more remarkable customer experiences.

“Ocean Pacific Apparel Founder Jim Jenks Dies, Helped Birth Modern Surf Industry” by Kari Hamanaka via Shop Eat Surf

by admin | Mar 21, 2023 | Community, Industry, Legends, News, Rest In Peace, Retail History, Surf

Clockwise from top left: Jim Jenks in the Op days; Jim with his last truck; the famous Op corduroy shorts. Photos courtesy of Junior Jenks and the Surfing Walk of Fame. Jim Jenks, the former surf shop worker who turned Ocean Pacific into an industry-defining...

“IN MEMORIAM: THOMAS F. TAYLOR (1966-2023)” by Cullen Poythress via Transworld Skateboarding

by admin | Feb 25, 2023 | Brick & Mortar, Legends, Rest In Peace, Retail History, Skateboard

Thomas in the pages of TWS. Photo: King Thomas with Grant in the backyard bowl. Photo: @jt_lushbag In the light of the great past masters of our kind, none so embodied the spirit of the craft quite like Thomas Taylor. In our lifetime of friendship and hell raising,...

“JENKEM VOL. 3 – LATEST AND GREATEST HARDCOVER BOOK HAS ARRIVED” by staff via Jenkem Mag

by admin | Feb 3, 2023 | Book Review, Community, Industry, Legends, News, Retail History, Skateboard

It’s been quite some time, but we’re back with the third and final installment in our Jenkem Book Series. That’s right, Jenkem Vol. 3 is finally here, consisting of 100% new content, completing the book trilogy we started back when we were even...

“5 trends that shaped the holidays in 2022” by Staff via Retail Dive

by admin | Jan 10, 2023 | Brick & Mortar, E-Commerce, Holiday, Industry, News, Retail History, Retail Technologies, Statistics

RgStudio via Getty Images From deep discounts to metaverse activations, here are some of the biggest influences on the season. Inflation and inventory challenges set a subdued tone for the 2022 holiday season before it even truly started. Discretionary...

“San Clemente’s Usedsurf Is the Largest Pre-Owned Board Shop on the Planet” by Joe Carberry via The Inertia

by admin | Dec 17, 2022 | Brick & Mortar, Retail History, Retail Strategy, Surf

San Clemente’s Usedsurf, on Calle de Los Molinos. Defining the “core” of surfing always seems at the heart of the pursuit. So what’s core, exactly? A shortboard? A particular brand? To me, the core of surfing is the shop. The everyday surfer’s conduit between the...

“Gary Friedman: The Poster Child of Retail Radicals” by Robin Lewis via The Robin Report

by admin | Dec 3, 2022 | Awards, E-Commerce, Retail History, Retail Strategy, Retail Technologies

How did I define the CEO of RH, Gary Friedman? As a true radical, and more. Perhaps even an iconoclast. Friedman is unique and complex. A conversation with him can be surreal; he’s a philosopher, an uber-character, energizer bunny, stream-of-conscious rambling...