If things work out as planned, there will be snow in Tel Aviv this winter − and not just a light dusting, but enough indeed for snowboarding. The "weatherman" with the grandiose plans is Concept Marketing owner Gidi Goldfinger, who intends to bring snow from Mount Hermon to the Tel Aviv port, where a giant ramp will be built for a snowboarding competition − part of a campaign to establish the new Blue Bird Pro surf shop at the port as the professional flagship store for the Blue Bird chain and the entire surfing sector. The store will have an 80-square meter snow department, complete with equipment for snowboarding and skiing.

The campaign will cost tens of thousands of dollars, and Concept (which also owns the Lee Cooper chain) is currently in the process of obtaining the necessary permits from the Tel Aviv Municipality, while hoping for a particularly cold winter. The ramp will remain in place after the snow melts, and will be used for skateboarding.
"The Tel Aviv port has not yet become a shopping center," says Goldfinger. "I believe in [the port's potential], but it is not developing at the rate I had hoped."

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"Shoppers have a clear preference for malls in winter," says Ofer Raz, manager of the chain, "and we have to think of ways to attract people to the port even when it is cold. Surf shops the world over convert to ski shops in the winter. We are also planning a skateboarding department for next summer."

Blue Bird will be investing an estimated $300,000-400,000 in its snow department, and has founded a new company − a joint venture with a tour company and a ski equipment importer − to run the new department.

Next stop, Eilat

Shortly after the snowboarding adventure in Tel Aviv, Concept will be moving its focus southward, to Eilat, and the opening of a new store for Australian surfing brand Rip Curl, in a 240-square meter space in the commercial center at the Neptune Promenade. Rip Curl is the leading brand at Blue Bird, which was launched in January 2006 and now has 15 branches. By the end of this year, says Goldfinger, the chain will have 20 stores.

The store in Eilat will open shortly before Passover (April 2007), and Mick Flynn, international marketing and sales manager for Rip Curl, was in Israel recently to help with the preparations.

Until about a year and a half ago, Sakal was the Israeli franchisee for Rip Curl, but Concept executives felt the market was ripe for a multibrand surf shop and approached Rip Curl when they noticed that Sakal was not leveraging its brands.

"We are committed to purchasing merchandise from [Rip Curl] and to giving them a percentage of sales," says Goldfinger. "Beyond that, they will not really be involved and Israel is a small dot on their map."

Goldfinger believes that the opening of the brand store in Eilat will change Australia's concept of Israel such that "they will realize the great potential here."

The potential in the Israeli surfing gear market has also been discovered recently by Fox, which acquired Billabong Israel − a franchise of the Australian surfwear brand − and has declared its intentions to open competing stores.

Promoting athletes

Goldfinger estimates that Blue Bird will finish 2006 with NIS 30 million in sales, and has set a goal of NIS 70 million for 2007.

"We began 2006 with just one store, but we'll be beginning 2007 with 20," explains Goldfinger. "That is a completely different starting point."

Blue Bird plans to open about seven more stores during 2007, and Goldfinger believes the number will complete the company's network countrywide.

Rip Curl is an Australian company with an estimated annual turnover of $500-600 million and a strong belief in promoting athletes.

"We give back to sports," says Flynn. "About 8 percent of our profits are dedicated to helping athletes. We sponsor many extreme sports competitions worldwide and many of the best surfers are ours."

One such athlete is Mick Fanning, a world surfing champion. "He is like a Madonna to surfers," explains Raz. "And Rip Curl groomed him from the beginning of his surfing career."

Blue Bird is hoping to bring Fanning to Israel, and Flynn has promised to help. "Perhaps he can pop over to Israel between competitions," says Flynn.

Although Rip Curl may not be overly interested in the sales volume of its brand in Israel, the company does expect the Israeli franchisee to maintain the company's policy of nurturing sports. "It's even in the contract," explained Flynn.

Blue Bird has allocated $30,000-40,000 of its $1 million advertising budget for 2007 to nurturing sports, and hopes that some Israeli "boarders" (surf, snow, wake and skate) will develop into world class athletes.