The Quiksilver shop on 5th Avenue in San Diego’s Gaslamp District
Liberated Brands, which operates the surf/skate/snowboard apparel labels Billabong, Quiksilver and Volcom, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and will shutter all its brick-and-mortar stores in the U.S.
San Diego County is home to many of the stores that are closing, including Quiksilver shops in the Gaslamp, La Jolla and down at the border at Las Americas outlet mall, while Volcom has locations in Carlsbad and Las Americas. A third Liberated Brands location, for Billabong, is also at Las Americas.
The legal moves came last Sunday in a Delaware courtroom.
The Costa Mesa-baed company's CEO, Todd Hymel, said in a statement connected to the filing that a “rapid and dramatic rise in interest rates,” as well as supply-chain issues, inflation and a decline in customer demand and shifting consumer preferences, all led to the decision.
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Posters on social media theorized that the young audience for the clothing lines had moved on to other labels, including the Oceanside-borne Brixton and others.
Hymel also said that the labels' had seen a surge in demand during the pandemic, when it expanded its retail footprint by 74 stores, up to 140, but it was not to last.
Consumers aren't totally out of luck, though: The brands' parent company said they could survive but with a different operator.
