Volcom was an American lifestyle brand that designed, marketed, and distributed

boardsports Boardsports are active outdoor sports that are played with any sort of board as the primary equipment. These sports take place on a variety of terrains, from paved flat-ground and snow-covered hills to water and air. Most boardsports are consider ...

-oriented products. Volcom is headquartered in

Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish language, Spanish for "coastal tableland") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including ...

. The brand was known for its trademark ''stone'' logo, its slogan ''True to This'', and the ''Let the Kids Ride Free'' campaign. Todd Hymel is the CEO of Volcom.

History

1991–1995: Origins

Volcom was founded in 1991 by Richard "Wooly" Woolcott and Tucker "T-Dawg" Hall, who based the ethos of the company on their own experiences with boardsports. In March 1991, the two friends went on a snowboarding trip to Tahoe, U.S., and afterward, they decided to start a clothing company. Chet Thomas was the first professional skateboarder to be sponsored by the brand. In 1995, Volcom was the first action sports company to create a record label, Volcom Entertainment.

1995–2011: IPO, Kering and ABG acquisitions

In April 2005, the company adopted its current name, "Volcom, Inc." Volcom became a publicly traded entity on June 29, 2005, when Wachovia Securities, D.A. Davidson and Piper Jaffray underwrote an initial public offering on

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

. They priced 4.69 million shares at US$19 a share, raising a total of US$89 million. In early 2008, Volcom made its first acquisition, taking ownership of Electric Visual Evolution LLC for US$25.3 million. In early 2016, Eric Crane acquired the brand from Volcom for an undisclosed amount. On May 2, 2011, PPR (turned Kering in 2013) launched a friendly takeover offer to buy Volcom Inc. for US$24.50 a share, valuing the company at US$608 million. Volcom's board unanimously backed the PPR offer, and shareholders were advised to tender their shares to the French company. Since the takeover, Kering has sought to expand and diversify the Volcom brand. The support from Kering allowed Volcom to launch its first ever closed-toe footwear line in July 2013. On April 3, 2019, Authentic Brands Group had announced it acquired Volcom from Kering.

Retail

Volcom's first retail store was opened on November 23, 2002, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Since then, seven more Volcom stores have opened in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and six more in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Outside America, Volcom has numerous international retail stores including locations in

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, Spain; Hossegor,

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, and

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, France; two locations in

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, Indonesia;

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;

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and

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, South Africa;

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, Thailand;

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and Falmouth, England;

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, Australia;

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;

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

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; Lima, Perú;

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; Isla de Margarita,

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;

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;

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Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

;

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, Switzerland,

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, and

Fort McMurray Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significa ...

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;

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

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and

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

. On February 2, 2025, Liberated Brands, owner of Volcom retail stores in the US, filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

protection, listing assets and liabilities between $100 million and $500 million. The company announced the closure of all remaining Volcom locations in the US, with liquidation sales beginning a week before the bankruptcy.

Teams

Surfing

*Laura Coviella *Noa Deane *Dusty Payne *Balaram Stack *Mitch Coleborn *Gony Zubizarreta *Parker Coffin *Andrew Doheny *Ozzy Wright *Nate Tyler *Yago Dora *Ryan Burch *Gavin Beschen *Kobi Clements *Joan Duru *Maud Le Car * Coco Ho Jack Robinson

Skateboarding

* Pedro Barros * Alec Majerus * Rune Glifberg * Dustin Dollin * Caswell Berry * Daan Van Der Linden * Colin Provost * Grant Taylor * Dane Burman * Jackson Pilz * Axel Cruysberghs * Omar Hassan * Victor Cortez * CJ Collins * Chima Ferguson *Chris Pfanner *Simon Bannerot * Milton Martinez * Rachelle Vinberg * David Gravette *Stella Reynolds

Snowboarding

* Ryan Immegart (Volcom's first sponsored snowboarder) * Pat Moore * Bryan Iguchi * Curtis Ciszek * Dylan Alito * Elena Hight * Hailey Langland * Jamie Lynn * Markus Keller * Mike Ravelson * Scott Blum * Arthur Longo *

Terje Haakonsen Terje may refer to: *Terje (name), a form of the Scandinavian name Torgeir *Tria (), a village in the commune of Derna, Bihor, Romania {{Dab ...

* Torgeir Bergrem * Marcus Kleveland * Reid Smith * Scotty James

Volcomunity

Volcomunity is an online space for Volcom ambassadors—singers, models, and designers to

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

about their lives. Natalie Suarez, Jennifer Herrema, Billie Edwards, Elle Green, Mike Correia, Stephanie Cherry, Amy Smith, Zoe Grisedale-Sherry and Hannah Logic are Volcom ambassadors. In 2012, Volcom collaborated with Volcom ambassadors POSSO for the second time. POSSO is described by the brand as "2 best friends from Northern California with a love for art, design, fashion, and music." The collection included dresses and a bikini outfit.

Events

2013 Volcom Pipe Pro Event

The 2013 Volcom Pipe Pro surf competition that took place between January 27 and February 7, 2013, has been designated as a ''Deep Blue Surfing Event'' as it completed the ASP ( Association of Surfing Professionals) Green Guidelines Recommendations. The event strove to reduce the environmental impacts of a professional surfing contest and to provide social benefits for the local community.

2014 Volcom Pipe Pro Event

The 2014 Volcom Pipe Pro surf competition took place between January 26 and February 7, 2014, at the Banzai Pipeline with waves at 8–12 feet, and was televised on Saturday, June 7, 2014, on NBC. The competition is an ASP, WQS (World Qualifying Series) 5-Star Event with a $130,000 prize purse, and once again has been designated as a ''Deep Blue Surfing Event'', working with ''Sustainable Surf'', a waste diversion company.

Philanthropy

Volcom created the "V.Co-logical Series" collection, whereby one percent of sales are donated to environmentally focused non-profit organizations. The company is a member of the "1% for the Planet" initiative. In 2011, Volcom collaborated with Krochet Kids International, an organization that seeks to reduce poverty. Volcom sold handmade clothes from Uganda and some of the revenue was donated to Krochet Kids International.

Awards

In 2003, Woolcott was named the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association Individual Achiever of the Year. In 2004, Woolcott was inducted into the National Scholastic Surfing Association Hall of Fame. In 2010, Volcom won the TransWorld Business Industry and Retail Award: “Brand of the Year”. Also in 2010, Woolcott was nominated for the Entrepreneur of the Year Award at Chapman University by the Leatherby Entrepreneurship Center.

References

External links

* {{Authentic Brands Group Clothing brands of the United States Companies based in Costa Mesa, California Clothing companies established in 1991 Skateboarding companies Snowboarding companies Surfwear brands 1990s fashion 2000s fashion 2010s fashion Swimwear brands 1991 establishments in California 2005 initial public offerings 2011 mergers and acquisitions 2019 mergers and acquisitions Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2025 Authentic Brands Group Workwear