World Industries

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World Industries, Inc.
Type Private
Founded 1987
Founder(s) Steve Rocco Rodney Mullen Mike Vallely
Headquarters Santa Monica, CA, USA
Key people Rodney Mullen, Steve Rocco, Mike Vallely Frank Messmann, Scott Drouillard, Marc McKee
Products Skateboard equipment, clothing, shoes, accessories, videos; snowboards, outerwear, etc.
Owner(s) i.e. Distribution
Parent Nuyna Guya Jore
Website World Industries Official Website

World Industries is a skateboarding company that offers skateboarding products, accessories and clothing. The company was founded by Steve Rocco in 1987. In 1988, Rocco was joined by skater, Rodney Mullen, and then Mike Vallely in 1989. As of 2007, World Industries is owned by i.e. Distribution.[1]

History

Blind

In late-1989, Mark Gonzales approached Rocco with the desire to be involved in his own company. Gonzales was riding for Vision at the time, which, at the time, was the largest skateboard company. Gonzales and Rocco decided to name the company Blind, in contrast to Gonzales' former sponsor. Jason Lee, who was, at the time, a World Industries team member, assisted with the development of the brand.

Plan B

In 1991, wanting to break from H-Street, co-founder Mike Ternasky formed the company Plan B with an exclusive production and distribution alliance with World Industries. In the deal, Plan B marketed itself from San Diego while World Industries did the rest, paying a royalty fee to Plan B.[citation needed]} Mike Ternasky was able to convince perennial freestyle world champion[citation needed] Rodney Mullen to switch to street skating thus becoming a member of the Plan B team.[citation needed]

In September 1993, Rick Howard defected with seven other riders from the fold of World Industries and started Girl. Mike Ternasky was killed in a car accident in 1994.[citation needed] Plan B and World Industries parted ways in 1997, and was run by Danny Way and Colin McKay, closing its doors shortly thereafter in 1998. In March 2005, Plan B was resurrected by team member and part-owner, Danny Way.

A-Team

As a direct response to Plan B's departure, Rodney Mullen created A-Team along with Marc Johnson, Gershon Mosley, Dave Mayhew, and Chet Thomas.

Restructure and growth

The years of 1996 to 1999 were years of significant restructuring and explosive growth for the company, led by the newly appointed executives, and subsequent shareholders, CEO Frank Messman and CFO Scott Drouillard. By the end of 1998, World Industries and Blind had achieved the status of number one and number two brands in skateboard hardgoods.[citation needed] This was in large part due to the re-positioning of the brands with Marc McKee's hugely popular cartoon characters of Devilman, Flame Boy and Wet Willy for World Industries, and the "Blind Reaper" for Blind.[citation needed].

Kubic Marketing

In October 1998, Steve Rocco and his then five other shareholder partners (including Rodney Mullen, Frank Messmann, and Scott Drouillard), sold a 70% majority interest of the company to an outside private equity group, SPC, while maintaining all key management and employees.[citation needed] The company was valued at $29 million at the point of sale. A parent company emerged by the name of Kubic Marketing ("Kubic") which owned World Industries and Dwindle Distribution.[citation needed]

In 1999, the parent company Kubic, bought the then largest retailer (catalog and internet) CCS in the skateboard industry for $21 million. In 2000, due to financial issues, the company sold CCS to Alloy, a publicly listed company for approximately $50 million.

Globe International

In 2002, Globe International Limited, an Australian public company, purchased all companies of Kubic, including World Industries.[2]

i.e. Distribution

On June 25, 2007, Globe International Limited sold the World Industries brand to i.e. distribution.[1]

As of August 2012, World Industries continues to sponsor a team of professional and amateur skateboarders.

Team

Professional

  • Andrew Cannon
  • Anthony Shetler
  • Timmy Knuth
  • Derek Fukuhara[3]

Amateur

  • Matt Mendenhall
  • Mike Franklin

Documentary

In 2007, Whyte House Productions released The Man Who Souled the World, a documentary about Steve Rocco and the creation of World Industries, as well as his other skateboard related companies and ventures.[4] The film release was accompanied by a skateboard art exhibition (featuring Marc McKee's art) titled, "Censorship is Weak as F##k."

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chris Oldfield (25 June 2007). "Globe announces the sale of World Industries". Media and ASX Release. Globe International. Retrieved 9 September 2012. 
  2. ↑ biz_editor (5 July 2002). "GLOBE BUYS KUBIC". Transworld Business. Bonnier Corporation. Retrieved 9 September 2012. 
  3. ↑ World Industries (2012). "Team : Pro". World Industries. World Industries. Retrieved 31 August 2012. 
  4. ↑ The Man Who Souled the World at IMDB

External links

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