Boardriders to lay off 590 employees in latest round of job cuts

One year on from Authentic Brands Group’s acquisition of the group and Boardriders is now believed to be in the process of laying off a significant percentage of its workforce.

According to documents filed with the California Employment Development Department seen by WWD, the water sports apparel group had outlined plans to lay off at least 590 employees between February 4 to April 26.

The majority of these roles – around 474 – are located in the company’s Mira Loma-based distribution centre, while the rest reside in its headquarters in Huntington Beach, California.

The move comes months after a first round of layoffs had been carried out in September, when 84 roles had been eliminated.

These reportedly impacted a selection of C-suite executives, the media outlet noted, with chief executive officer Arne Arens; the chief information officer; and chief tax officer, among those cut.

Sources for WWD said that the layoffs were related to Authentic’s decision to move Boardriders’ portfolio of labels, including Quiksilver, Roxy and Billabong, from mid-tier retailers to mass merchants, meaning that a large-scale distribution centre was no longer necessary.

Since snapping up Boardriders, Authentic set about applying its third-party distribution and licensing partnership model to the brands, appointing Liberated Brands to operate their retail and ecommerce in the US and Canada and BRJ Group to lead the brands in Japan and Taiwan.