Billabong set its roots in Queensland. It was founded in 1973, by Rena and Gordon Merchant. The company started out as a manufacturer of board shorts and slowly expanded its operations.
In 1981, the company decided to become an aggressive player in the surf apparel market by branching out to an international crowd. At first, it expanded its business to include New Zealand and the United States, then to South Africa, Japan and finally to Europe. Once the ball was set in motion it was only a matter of time before it became a global effort.
As the brand gained exposure and popularity the company decided to branch into other sports related apparel markets. They started experimenting with different lines of sports packages such as snowboarding and skateboarding.
In 1991, once they were satisfied with the quality of their new products, the company began to manufacture and distribute to the snowboarding and skateboarding crowd on a much larger scale. As they expanded into these other areas, they were able to discover much success.
In 2000, Billabong international was listed as a publicly traded company on the Australian Stock Exchange. Once enough...