The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful...

What a day here in Carlsbad. Our little piece of paradise is amidst the worst wildfires we have ever seen... Yet at the same time the combination of 2 solid swells and the Santana Winds (more commonly referred to as Santa Ana winds) blowing off shore are making the waves the best we have had in years! Mother Nature sure is a fickle and torturous entity...

Not a lot of work getting done at Maku HQ today as we are currently under a voluntary evacuation and packing up valuables, etc. right now just in case the fires continue to move west towards the beach... My thoughts are with those that have lost their homes today and many thanks to the brave firefighters out there trying to control the beast...

Here are a few pics from today:

The Good -
My local Spot Going Off, Had a great 2 hour session this morning with only 8 guys out!




The Bad:
Early Morning Smoke moving in from the east


Looking East from the Beach


Looking South Down the PCH Mid Morning....


The Beautiful:
The Smoke made for some great lighting

Maku / Eclectic Home and Portland Fashion Week!

Sorry for the lack of updates, been swamped! Check out our latest press release below. Stoked to support the independent designers of Portland Fashion Week along with Dennis and the crew at Eclectic Home.

MAKU FURNISHINGS AND PORTLAND RETAILER ECLECTIC HOME
TO OUTFIT PORTLAND FASHION WEEK’S ECO-LOUNGE

Innovative Maku Furnishings and Eclectic Home Combine Efforts to Support Like-Minded Fashion and Design Enthusiasts During Portland Fashion Week

PORTLAND (October 17, 2007) -- Eclectic Home, Portland’s leading retailer of environmentally sensitive home resources, together with Maku Furnishings, are pleased to be the lead sponsors of Portland Fashion Week’s Sustainable Lounge. The lounge will provide an area for Portland Fashion Week’s sustainable-design enthusiasts to relax and also to showcase that modern design can co-exist with sustainable products within the home.

Taking place October 19-22, Portland Fashion Week brings renewable and independent products into the mainstream. The show’s commitment to the environment is all encompassing. Besides showcasing clothing from environmentally conscious designers and Maku’s most recent furniture offerings, eco-friendly styling products will be used on the models and earth-friendly materials have been incorporated into the production of the show’s runway.

“In Portland, being green isn’t a trend, it’s a lifestyle. With the eco-lounge we’re showing Fashion Week attendees that green living can be brought into the home without compromising style or quality,” said Dennis Rose, owner of Eclectic Home. “Anyone who has ever seen Maku knows that modern design and sustainable products can go hand in hand, without compromising comfort or quality.”

Eclectic Home’s participation in Portland Fashion Week is the continuation of a greater trend in specialty retail, where independent entities succeed in the face of larger big-box retailers through innovative thinking and a commitment to the community.

“When Dennis approached us about participating in Fashion Week, it reaffirmed that Eclectic Home was the right retail partner for Maku in Portland. Out of the box thinking, a commitment to the community and a friendly environmental stance are the new prerequisites for surviving in the specialty retail marketplace,” commented Johnny West, co-founder of Maku Furniture. “While some complain the big chains are killing their business, Eclectic Home is succeeding by giving Portland a reason to shop in there. Eclectic Home is more than a retailer, it’s an incubator of ideas and sustainable design in the community.”

Portland Fashion Week will be held at the Cascade Shipyard, 5555 Channel Drive on Swan Island in Portland. More information on Portland Fashion Week can be found online by visiting www.portlandfashionweek.net.

About Eclectic Home
Located at 2259 NW Raleigh Street, Portland’s Eclectic Home offers unique products from around the world to enhance your lifestyle. More than just a furniture store, we strive to create environments which promote good health and energy while being sensitive to the resources used to make those products. Many of our products are made from either reclaimed materials, sustainable resources such as bamboo or woods from managed forests. More information can be found online at www.eclectichome.com or by calling 503.224.0551.


About Maku Furnishings
Maku Furnishings (www.makufurniture.com) is the first home furnishings line designed to encompass the global consortium of action sports athletes, design enthusiasts and passionate lifestyle participants. Founded by action sports veteran Johnny West and business partner J. Michael Johnson, the Maku collection consists of authentic and contemporary furnishings that are relevant to today’s lifestyle consumers.

For additional information on the Maku product line, visit www.makufurniture.com

To schedule a time to speak with Dennis Rose, owner of Eclectic Home or receive images of Maku’s sustainable furniture elements, please contact:

Bill Byrne
BBPR
858-652-0153
bill@bbpublicrelations.com

The North Pacific Finally Awakes

After Taking the summer off and letting the South Pacific Generate a few meager swells, the North Pacific is finally waking up and our first NW Swell of the Winter season is on the way! Which also means it's snowing in the Pacific NW and Shredding (snowboarding) season is just around the corner!

Check it -

Californication

Nope, not the song by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, it the new series on Showtime featuring David Duchovny a.k.a Agent Mulder from the X-Files plays Hank Moody a famed novelist with a bit of writers block who is struggling to get his career back on track, raise his teenage daughter, has the hots for his ex who is now engaged, all the while dealing with his own vices of Women, Drink, and drugs.

Sounds pretty rad and makes me wish I had Showtime. Especially so I could see all of the Maku furniture out on the deck of his pad in the episode that aired 2 weeks ago! Stoked!!!

Here is a podcast interview with David Duchovny. If anybody happens to have a dvr that you can burn this episode to a disc and send it to me let us know!

New Board Stoke!

Just picked up a new board from Cole. 6'6" x 19 1/4 x 2 1/2 rounded pin with future fins. Stoked and can't wait for that first solid overhead NW to roll in. Good riddance to summer of 2007 - crowds, no waves, and more crowds...



Here's the quiver -
L to R - 6'1" Bat tail Quad, 6'4" round tail X's 2, 6'6" Rounded Pin, 6'10" C.I. K-Step Up for the big days!

Global Warming, hot or not?

At the risk of taking a minor political departure from the melding of passionate lifestyle enthusiasm and contemporary furniture I submit 2 articles for your review.

The First article is from NASA saying they have overstated the rate at which the earth is warming. Click Here

The Second article I found while perusing the BBC news website talking about the alarming rate in which Arctic Sea Ice is shrinking. Click Here

It's no secret that I have long been a fan of taking care of our environment. From growing up in the mountains and joining the Sierra Club at the age of 14 on through moving to the beach and being a longtime supporter of The Surfrider Foundation (and more recently 1%FTP) I have seen firsthand the effects we as humans can have on our environment and the blatant disregard that many people take towards their surroundings.

Mind you I am not an overzealous "eco-nazi" or anything but it's not that hard to do little things like recycle or turn off a light in an empty room. If you get a chance, grab a copy of "The Lazy Environmentalist" written by the ever passionate all around nice guy Josh Dorfman.

To see "Green Products" continue to infiltrate mainstream life and media is great and only good things can come from added awareness.

My take, we are seeing a pattern of global warming that modern society has never experienced. Has this pattern taken place in the past before meteorological records were kept or are we going down a path that Mother Earth has never seen, we will never know...?

But one thing is for sure - Each and every day people across this planet take a new interest in our environment and what they can do to make a difference and thats a good thing!

Is anybody out there.

Last day of the International Casual Living and Accessories show.

Hello....................................

Hot Child in the City...

running wild and looking pretty! (albeit a little bit slower today after last nights festivities)

Day 3 at the International Casual Living and Accessories show was... well it was day 3 and I'll spare the rant today. But we did meet with a number of really cool retailers that "get it". (see day 2 comments) So there is hope that Maku will still be able to save the world of Casual outdoor furnishings from itself...



Enough with the furniture show how about the parties! My good friends at Burton Snowboards had the grand opening of their new Chicago store last night. A rocking good time was had by all who attended including VIPs like Mr. Chris Bachman retail hero to the Midwest snowboard scene with his store Shred Shop. Here some pics



Is she dancing or checking her pits...?

Groundhog Day...

Day 2 at the International Casual Living and accessories show was somewhat like the movie "Groundhog day". Aside from a bit more traffic you would not have known that yesterday was day 2 of what is touted as the "Largest Casual Furnishings Tradeshow in the World"

Liking to have a bit of feel for the marketplace and starting to understand the dynamics of Casual Furniture it is no wonder all of these companies here are whining about how bad specialty retail is and how the big box guys are taking over. Hearth and Home magazine has a number of company profiles in their show edition.

The funny thing, not one of these companies mentions targeting a younger more vibrant consumer. Even more interesting is that only 1 of the companies makes mention of "eco friendly" products as an emerging category.

Maybe I'm way off here but last time I checked Baby Boomers weren't spending a lot of money on their homes, in fact many as they grow older were down sizing or using their disposable income for travel - cruises, RV, or going to see their grandchildren...

Exhibit 1 - 3 "different" wicker and rattan brands pictured below. See if you can tell a difference in the product....






Exhibit 2 - Traditional "Teak" furnishings. Again 3 different companies...







And there are 2 full floors of temporary exhibits as well as 3 floors of permanent showrooms all with the EXACT same products. How can a specialty retailer in any sector of consumer goods be expected to compete with a large national chain when all they are battling over is the same consumer, same pricepoints, and same products...?

A specialty retailer is just that - Specialized. But when an industry of manufacturers all make the same stuff and there is no significant point of differentiation (branding, pricing, products, etc) for the specialty retailer and more importantly the consumer these guys just can't compete.

I just don't get it?

I guess the only plausible answer is Maku! I mentioned in an earlier post that we pretty much stick out like a sore thumb at this show - an oasis of cool in a Kook-e-cutter desert... The good news there are retailers here that "get it" and understand they need more specialized products to attract and retain their customer base. A customer base (Insert Gen x) that is younger, more contemporary, vibrant, and passionate about living but most importantly has a substantial disposable income and wants to take their house and turn it into a home.

Hopefully they will all buy Maku...

Stay tuned for day 3 rantings on the show.

International Casual Living and accesories show!

Making our Debut at the International Casual Living and Accessories show!

Took the redeye into Chicago today, arrived @ 4:30 am (2:30 am PST, departed SD @ 11 pm PST) with a few hours sleep on the plane, my favorite mother in law was kind enough to pick me up at O'Hare that early. Thanks!

A side note and the reason I was on the redeye..., a big congratulations to the Carlsbad Mighty Mite Shining Lancers for a great win on Saturday. As the head coach of the team, I couldn't be more proud of not only my son but the entire team! Great job boys!!!

Went on down to the Merchandise Mart and proceeded to set up our stand. I gotta tell you, I think Maku is a refreshing Oasis of cool in an desert of cookie cutter mass production. Here's a few shots of our stand.







By the way, did you know the only building in the USA larger than the Merchandise Mart is the Pentagon. This place is HUGE!

Benji Weatherly's "Little Humans Surf Contest" rolled up on D-street last weekend. Unfortuneatly the surf was meager (just as it has been most of the summer) but with ASR, The Trestles Contest, and The Surfer Poll awards all happening in the last week, there were no shortage of Pro's hanging out and rooting on the all the groms competing.



Rizal even made the trip all the way from Bali to attend ASR and take care of some biz over on this side of the planet. (pictured with my son Mason aka "Jojo the idiot circus boy")

In a time when it is easy to criticize our Govt. it's good to see that there are people whom still remember those whom served and those lost in battle both now and in the past. Check out this paddle and benefit for not only Vietnam vets but any Veterans of our Military. A big THANKS for your service and commitment to our Country! Click here for more info

Maku in September Riviera San Diego

Just a quick image from Johnny’s Riviera San Diego debut.

Gillian and her team do an excellent job of giving company’s that are based locally or have a strong local tie some extra help.

Having lived in NYC for a number of years, in addition to reading more than my fair share of magazines due to the nature of my job, I can tell you the Riviera team holds their own with the best of them editorially and from a production standpoint.

Besides featuring a giant picture of infamous West family pooch Diego, the article also gives props to local retailer Grounded and the Maku's favorite shaper Cole Simler . If you've never checked out one of Cole's boards, do so. Real beauties that even kooks like the PR guy can appreciate.

BTW – Maku is in the Riviera SD version, not OC. The covers are the same and some bookstores carry both, so look out before you buy.

Riviera Magazine Had their 3rd Anniversary party a few nights ago at the JetSource Hangers at Palomar Airport here in Carlsbad. The party was off the hook! Gillian and crew definetly know how to rock in high end style - Ferrari 308 Spider Gt's, Bentley's, and of course what party would not be complete with out a $23 million Private Jet sitting off to the side for all the attendees to chill in... I figure it would take about 4 stops on that thing for us to get to Bali! maybe one day... :)

Here some pics taken with my cell phone, sorry for the poor quality.







By the way, HUGE THANKS to Gillian and her editorial staff for the profile of myself and Maku in their 3rd anniversary issues. It's on news stands now so go get yourself a copy. Autographs are free.... hahaha!

Logo placement!

Check out these 2 killer shots from TW Surf of Rizal and notice the Maku stickers on his board... SWEET!

Riz @ Padang Padang (that wave is so good you gotta say the name twice... hahaha!)


Riz and his wonderful wife Chandra in their backyard.