Dive Brief:

• Quiksilver Inc. filed for bankruptcy last week, blaming delays in merchandise deliveries produced by the labor dispute in West Coast ports earlier in the year. 
• The surf brand plans to surrender control to Oaktree Capital Management in a $279 million debt-for-equity swap following the filing. 
• The nine-month long labor dispute ended in February, but not before producing significant slowdowns at ports from Long Beach to Seattle. 

Dive Insight:

Repercussions from a protracted labor dispute that slowed shipments on the West Coast continue seven months after settlement, with Quiksilver Inc. filing for bankruptcy Sept. 9. The surfwear brand says that late wholesale deliveries resulted from the longshoremen’s work slowdowns, adding to its financial troubles and preventing the execution of its turnaround plan.

While the dispute was settled in February, the effects of port slowdowns and stoppages were expected to linger long into 2015. Research analysts at Kurt Salmon projected that the dispute would ultimately cost retailers $7 billion due to increased cost of wholesale delivery and lost sales due to inventory shortages.

Supply chain efficiencies were a key part of a 17-month turnaround plan Quiksilver announced in May 2013. Major shareholder Ryan Drexler, president of Consac LLC, complained that the plan wasn’t working after the company reported a $42.2 million operating loss for the first three quarters of fiscal 2014 last October.