Surf giant Billabong has confirmed a management shift in its global operations, with Ed Leasure to take the helm of its US business as acting president of the Americas.
Leasure, formerly the company's head of retail in the US, will assume the role effective immediately, replacing incumbent Billabong America's president Colin Haggerty.
Haggerty had assumed the Americas president position temporarily in December 2012 when Paul Naude stepped away from the business. He will return to his previous position as head of Billabong Retail, full-time.
Commenting on the changes, Billabong CEO Neil Fiske said he has asked Leasure to step in to the interim role as he continues a strategic review of Billabong’s operations globally.
“Ed is a highly successful entrepreneur and recognised leader in the surf industry with a track record of success in every business he has led,” Fiske said.
“He’s also been involved in every aspect of our business -- wholesale sales, retail, merchandising, operations and branding. He has good merchant skills, has walked in the shoes of our specialty retail accounts, and knows how to build businesses.”
Leasure added that he brings 30 years of surfing industry, retail and brand experience to the role.
“With 30 years of Billabong experience, I’m just as convinced of the potential today,” Leasure said.
“It’s a period of transition for the company here but the breadth and depth of talent we have across the team combined with a commitment of resources to build the business makes it a very exciting time to step into this role.”
Opening his first surf store in Florida in the late seventies, Leasure wrote to the then Australian-only operation in an attempt to secure an order of Billabong boardshorts before going on to be one of the first licensees to carry the product in the United States.
Leasure started Quiet Flight Surfboards in 1979 with his brother and soon transformed the business into one of the largest surfboard manufacturers in the US with a team of riders that included Kelly Slater, Matt Kehkle, CJ and Damien Hobgood, among others.
A retail store set up later that year in Cocoa Beach to increase board sales was the beginning of a wider and highly successful chain across the US.
Leasure had also previously worked with Billabong to assist in setting up their flagship Times Square store in 2005. He sold his business to the Billabong three years later and was appointed to run the East Coast retail operations, his most recent role being president of retail for the United States.