West 49

Infobox Company
company_name = West 49 Inc.
company_
company_type = Retailer
genre = Clothing
foundation = 1995
founder =
location_city = Burlington, ON
location_country = Canada
location =
origins =
key_people = Sam Baio
area_served =
industry =
products =
services
revenue = profit $195.3 million (2006) [http://www.cnxmarketlink.com/en/releases/archive/February2007/07/c5477.html West 49 Inc. reports fourth quarter sales] CNX Marketlink (2007-02-07)]
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees = > 1,000 employees (2005) [http://www.businessedge.ca/article.cfm/newsID/11405.cfm Clothing chains tailor stores to customers] Business Edge News Magazine 2005-08-12 (Retrieved 2007-03-27)]
parent =
divisions =
subsid =
owner =
company_slogan =
homepage = http://www.west49.com
dissolved =
footnotes =

West 49 Inc., (tsx|WXX) is a leading Canadian multi-banner specialty retailer of fashion and apparel, footwear, accessories and equipment related to music, youth culture and action sports. West 49 was established in 1995 by C.E.O. Sam Baio. The retailer operates 134 stores under seven banners across the country. It is Canada's largest skateboard and snowboard chain and in 2005, it was ranked the 82nd fastest growing company in Canada. [http://www.strategymag.com/articles/magazine/20040823/baio.html The secret of Sam's success] Strategy (August 2004)] [http://www.canadianbusiness.com/rankings/profit100/list.jsp?pageID=profile&profile=82&year=2005&type=profile&listType=P100 Profit 100 2005] Canada Business Online (retrieved 2007-03-27)] West 49 Inc. operates stores under several names: West 49, Billabong, Off The Wall, Amnesia/Arsenic, D-Tox, Duke's Northshore, and www.boardzone.com.

They carry brands such as DC, Hurley, Quiksilver, Billabong, Element, Blind, Roxy, C1RCA, Emily Strange, Nixon, Mystery, Burton, to name a few, and also their own clothing line, West 49.

Staring in 2001, West 49 sponsored and hosted an annual international skate event, the West 49 Canadian Open. In 2005, Microsoft joined as a partner with West 49 to sponsor the competition. [http://www.transworldsnowboarding.com/twbiz/industrynews/article/0,21214,1094759,00.html Microsoft Canada Teams Up With The West 49 Canadian Open—“Battle Of The Brands”] 2005-08-16] The West 49 Canadian Open is not on the World Cup Skateboarding event schedule for 2007. [http://www.wcsk8.com/2007/schedule.lasso World Cup Skateboarding 2007 Event Schedule] ]

In 2001, West 49 received criticism for an image of nude women placed in a magazine ad and on the front page of their new website. [http://www.cbc.ca/streetcents/archives/guide/2001/14/s03_01.html West 49 AD] Street Cents (Retrieved 2007-03-27)] West 49 apologized, admitting that they shouldn't have run the ad, and replaced the images.

Locations

There are West 49 stores in the following locations:

British Columbia

*Prince George
*Okanagan
*Chilliwack
*Kelowna
*Surrey
*Burnaby
*Vancouver
*Coquitlam
*Victoria
*Nanaimo
*Richmond

Alberta

*Sherwood Park
*Edmonton
*Lethbridge
*Calgary
*Red Deer

askatchewan

*Saskatoon
*Regina

Manitoba

*Winnipeg

Ontario

*Thunder Bay
*Sudbury
*North Bay
*Ottawa
*Kingston
*Barrie
*Newmarket
*Timmins
*Toronto
*Mississauga
*St. Catharines
*Hamilton
*Cambridge
*Sarnia
*Kitchener
*Waterloo
*London
*Windsor
*Brantford
*Oakville
*Guelph
*Burlington
*Peterborough
*Sault Ste. Marie
*Pickering

Newfoundland

*St. John's

Nova Scotia

*Halifax
*Dartmouth

New Brunswick

*Moncton
*Saint John
*Fredericton

References

www.west49.com/storeLocator.jsp