Once laughed out of skate shops, San Diego’s home-grown Sector 9 skateboards now dominates the longboard category, a niche it almost single-handedly brought back into fashion. International sales manager Marcus Valdivia recalls the early years trying to revive the surf-style product, which was last popular in the 1960s. “No one thought people would ride it,” Valdivia said. “They would say, ‘That’s not skateboarding.’” Today Sector 9 has a presence in 57 countries and a clear majority in the domestic market, with about 100 brands competing for the remaining share. One element that helped it expand to its current position was the Action Sports Retail (ASR) convention, which the company has attended for the past 15 years. Valdivia said Sector 9 will continue to attend to stay competitive. “All the other brands are looking uphill. Everybody’s gunning for you,” Valdivia said. “We feel a full court press is necessary at all times.” In addition to maintaining its presence, the 16 year-old business has much to gain at its preferred trade show. While ASR provides opportunities to network, stay current with trends, snap up referrals from other booths and participate in side meetings on industry politics, the most relevant for Sector 9 is the exposure to the international marketplace. Although domestic retailers who carry the brand are still growing, the international market holds the greatest potential for market penetration in terms of gaining both new distributors and new countries – in addition to continued growth with existing foreign clients. In this regard, ASR could again be pivotal – Sector 9 has gained 80 percent of its original international distributors from past ASR trade shows. “ASR has always been one of the strongest for international connections,” said Valdivia, who has been with the company for 12 years. Yet no matter where it goes, Sector 9 will remain loyal to San Diego, and to ASR. When the company was acquired by Billabong in 2008, it stipulated in its new contract that it remain based in its hometown. “We were born and raised here,” Valdivia said. “ASR is our home show. We’ll always go.”