O'Neill est. 1952
Global Brand
The beginning
The brand was established in 1952 in San Francisco, California, by Jack O'Neill. He shaped a few balsa surfboards and sold accessories like paraffin wax and a few vests he started gluing together from neoprene. When the vests started selling, Jack decided to go into the wetsuit business. His friends laughed. They asked him what he planned to do for business after the handful of surfers in the area had bought one. Jack said he'd cross that bridge when he got to it. The Surf Shop became a local gathering place, and the number of surfers began to grow. O'Neill flew in talented surfer/shapers like Phil Edwards to make boards, and wetsuit sales climbed. Jack developed designs for a shorty and a long john, and eventually a long-sleeved beaver-tail jacket. Soon surfers were riding more waves, and riding them better, in large measure because they could now enjoy longer sessions in cold water, thanks to Jack's neoprene suits. He had shops in locations from Steamer Lane to J-Bay, and from Antarctica to reef breaks off the coast of Iceland. O'Neill and his company trademarked the term "surf shop" in 1962, but never enforced their trademark. By 1980, Jack O'Neill's surf shop had morphed into a thriving international company, dominating the world's wetsuit market and one of the leaders in beach lifestyle sportswear in the U.S., Japan, and Europe. In 1985, having run Team O'Neill for years and effectively coordinated the company's operations in Europe and Japan, Pat assumed the CEO position, freeing Jack to surf, sail, and work at a variety of environmental projects. Besides a strong interest in saving the great white shark from extinction, Jack has also developed the O'Neill Sea Odyssey program-a free, educational cruise aboard the Team O'Neill catamaran that acquaints kids with the microbiology of the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary, which begins at Jack O'Neill's doorstep. Jacks son Pat, became CEO of the company in the late 1980's. He was the pioneer of inventing the surfboard leash.
Pictured above is the first and original O'neill surf shop.
When it was renovated
Pre renovation
Expansion
From the garage he expanded the average surfer's playground to include locations from Steamer Lane to J-Bay, and from Antarctica to reef breaks off the coast of Iceland. O'Neill and his company trademarked the term "surf shop" in 1962, but never enforced their trademark.
O'Neill Today
The brand is privately owned and earns around $1.5 billion a year. The O'Neill brand now branches out to many products. Wetsuits, surfboards, board bags, swimsuits, clothing, and shoes are some of the products on which O'Neill prints their logo. O'Neill teamed up with Royal Philips Electronics to produce in-ear headphones. Logo international bought the company's trademark in 2007, along with licensing agreements to sell the brand worldwide. As of 2012 the company employed 130 people, and had a 60% market share of wetsuits sold worldwide.
Countries that sell the product are
Jordy Smith
Is professional surfer that O'neill sponsors. He is on the WCT (Word Circuit Tour), and has recently won the last event and came third in the current event.
Mark Mathews
Is a professional big wave surfer that O'Neill sponsors and has the photo of the year 2013.
Events
They sponsor many events on the World Qualifying Series of surfing and sometimes they even sponsor a World Circuit Tour Event called the Cold Water Classic