Today Billabong is a corporate monster selling their products internationally, but it was a long and arduous road for the conglomerate. It was 1973 in the Gold Coast of Australia when founder Gordon Merchant and partner Rena started Billaboprig in a kitchen table making board shorts and selling them to local shops. The company is involved in of different areas, sports like, surfing, skating, snowboarding, etc. Billabong was a company that started without a name and became one of the most recognized names in sportswear. Gordon Merchant was a simple surfer that was making surfboards for Richard Mathews, when he met t his partner Rena with two kids of her own and one on the way they realized that they were going to have to do something to make some money to support themselves. Rena was already making board shorts for some local surfers and they both decided to continue making board shorts. They started in the kitchen table of their home continuing making board shorts and trying to sell their product in local stores. With little success due to lack of a label, they came up with the name Billabong. Today billabong is mainly focused in marketing, distribution, wholesaling and retailing of apparel, accessories, eyewear, wetsuits and hard goods in the sector of board sports. It has become a conglomerate of hugely recognized companies that include Billabong, Element, Von Zipper, Honolua Surf Company, Kustom, Palmers Surf, Xcel, TIgerlily, Sector 9, and RVCA brands. The
