Volcom has purchased ten of its licensed retail stores in U.S. continuing the current trend amongst the bigger labels to own their own paths to consumers. There’s no word on what the purchase cost the company but they have had quite a successful year seeing some pretty good growth in revenue, so I’m sure they’ve got the cash.

For those who haven’t followed these developments, the argument against brand owned retail (and direct online stores) is that it cuts core independent stores out of the picture – these are the stores which have traditionally formed the bedrock of the industry and nurtured a lot of brands to become the powerhouses they now are. The argument for the brands to sell direct is that independent retail buyers are continuing to be more and more conservative in their buying effectively leaving some pretty rad and sought after styles unreachable for a lot of consumers… Company owned stores can stock a fuller range. There are other issues and arguments but this is a start – what do you guys think? Is direct sales from the companies a good thing or do you prefer to hit your local store?

For more on the Volcom retail purchase, head over to Boardistan.

(Via Boardistan)