RETAIL / LEISURE

Trade Shows Endorsement: Action Sports Retailer, a trade magazine for the surf-wear and beach-related industries based in Laguna Beach, has signed an agreement for the endorsement of its twice-annual trade shows by the Surf Industry Manufacturers Assn.

Under the arrangement, the magazine “agreed to recognize and support in principle SIMA” as an organization promoting the surf- wear industry, said the magazine’s new publisher, Jenny Le Coq.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but sources said the magazine will pay a fee to the organization, which will be used to support charities.

Le Coq said a SIMA board member will be invited to join a committee that organizes the trade shows, considered to be one of the most important avenues for the surf-wear industry to show its apparel to retailers.

“We’re trying to be responsive to the changing marketplace,” Le Coq said.

SIMA’s members include most of the major surf-wear firms in Southern California. The group is headed by Michael Tomson, president of Gotcha Sportswear Inc. in Costa Mesa, who could not be reached for comment.