What do you want in a surf shop?

I really miss Shoreline Board Shop on 28th Street in OC. The owner was always there and they had a huge selection of bodyboards..

 

Number one thing for me, in a surf shop, is that the guy helping me not be a sexist jerk. Seems like it should be obvious, but somehow plenty of guys in surf shops don't realize that responding to a question with a crude sexual gesture will drive away not only that surfer's business but also the business of every other female surfer (and plenty of men too) she tells about her experience. When a woman surfer walks into a surf shop, she wants to be treated like a surfer, not a piece of eye candy.

 

Loyalty

Great to see Malibu's getting the credit he deserves. A shop with people who want to understand what YOU need. He personally guaranteed the quad I bought this year. Went from (primarily) longboarding and am getting back into shortboarding for those punchy steep days - he says..."I know you/what you surf; I've been riding the same and you'll love this"...Bottom Line - he was right.

Will always give him last look. Sometimes though, you just can't beat WM.

Getting too old for surf clothing.

 

yeah Lee is a 100% great guy. There was a time when I wouldn't even set foot in there unless he was working. Some of the staff left alot to be desired. Glad to see he got rid of them.

 

I'll bet I'm riding a quad from the same FL shaper

Lee and I are the same age, and I'm on a shorter board than I've been on in decades thanks to his advice. It's such a fun board! I tell Lee I'm seeing places on the waves I haven't been to in years. He was SO right with his recommendation.

That's part of what makes a great surf shop. Plus he's a great guy too. I don't mind paying in his shop. He's earned it. Never steered me wrong, and always backing up what he sells.

 

Love mine tooo...It's new and fast, whereas I'm old and Slow.....Guess you old guys got @ 3 years on me! - LOL!!

 

sunshine house rules! ****ERS!

 

screw them...BB Bombers FTW

 

my local shop sells more bikinis and sunglasses then boards and gear - but hey man he'd be out of business in a heartbeat if he didn't have that high margin merchandise. Every shop thats tried to be "core" around here usually lasts about 3-6 mos.

 

I stopped by Austin's in VA Beach one day and ended up talking about this very subject. If you haven't ever been to his shop, imagine a place filled 90% with boards and just a few shelves of clothing with some other novelties next to the cash register. Even in a place like that, he told me most of the cash comes in from non-surfboard items. It's no secret that the very tourists we so often slander support our community when they go into the shop and buy t-shirts, rashguards, hats, sandals, etc. Any financially successful shop will have a lot of clothing. It's not because they've "lost their core" or "sold out". They're just trying to stay in business and provide for their family and employees, just like the rest of us.

 

exactly. what i would like to see more of, tho, is a heavier emphasis on the "core" products & a little de-emphasis on the non-essential stuff.

for example, say you have a 2-story shop. IMO, the first floor should be boards, wetsuits, board bags, etc... & the second floor should be the bikinis, t-shirts, jeans, shoes, etc...put the emphasis in the shop on surfing & the gear surfers need, not the tourist/wannabe/shoobie crap.

 

.....soul.....

 

The problem with a core shop (or a soul shop) is that it is VERY difficult to make money on anything other than clothing.

 

.........and the shops get stuck with the shipping costs and the repair on damage done by the shippers. people in other businesses laugh at the low profit margin on surfboards.

 

surf shop

My $.02 on the subject....


Shop dog.
Austin

 

In any shop you walk into you will see clothes , sunglasses , Skate stuff , shoes and novelties soon as you walk in why cause they sell more than boards. How many boards and suits are sold in a week.???? Not as much as clothing and other goods sales thats why that stuff is usually in the back . Wide selection or shapes brands and sizes are key along with knowledgable and friendly staff will make you come in for the litttle stuff and remeber them for that big buy of a suit or board

 

Wavejammer,Lavallette,Scott Meredith.
best prices,nicest guy,knowledgable,honest as they come,great boards,long and short,Ricky Carroll,Pearson Arrow,etc.,great wetsuits,Hyperflex(!),great ding repair,all his employees are very mellow and nice like him.
He'll leave you alone if you want,but if you want help,he'll give you all the time in the world to be sure you are sure.
no attitude problems,just friendly,knowledgable,with the best prices anywhere.

Beach House in Bay Head is very similar,extremely nice,knowledgable and helpful local,Eric Beyer,he is totally into boards,except the focus is everything but shortboards,and amazing quality longboards and retro boards abound,and so some of the prices are higher,but it is Bay Head,if you know what I mean.If you want the top quality High-end stuff,Bing,Jacobs,Patagonia,etc.,he's got it.

In Hatteras it's Natural Art.Scott and Carol are awesome,they tell it like it is,no nonsense,and Scott Busbey is the best shaper there is.Their ding repair is the best.They carry all the top brands in wetsuits,etc..They are honest and totally helpful,and truly love surfing.

In this age of online discount ship to your house,I thank God we have surf shops with owners as stoked on surfing as i am to take care of my surfing needs.

 

I have ordered a few things from Beach house . Really friendly ppl there and they do know alot about logs and retor shapes and have some nice stuff in all the time

 

Im going to fight the next over-privileged va beach shop worker that gives me the kook treatment for coming in wearing khakis after work. Thats right, some of us have jobs where we cant hang out in dvs slippers and slim fit tee's all day. Im just going to start dating their rich divorced moms and see who gets the last laugh. (im definitely talking about wrv)

 

Lee, That is too funny, because I completely hear what you are saying... I thought WRV was the worst with some of their pompous punks about 10 yrs ago. I bought boards, gear, clothes, watches and all types of gear over the years from there and those types just ruin their their reputation horribly. I thought the owner or mgmt was finally catching on though. Latey, I haven't seen much of those types as I had back in the day. Maybe, be cause some of them are lifers and have finally grown up a littel bit. But there are a couple of tools in there still acting the fool and they are not as young as you would expect which makes it even more pathetic. I mean... Seriously? Get a Life!

I see Austin (Austin Surfboards) posted a pic of the shop dog up above... I'm very impressed with him and his shop that's basically all boards. Brought in my WRV Longboard after getting a couple cracks in the bottom of both rails during the Danielle Swell and he did a great job fixing those up and a few other dings... Color mathcing and all... Seemed like a really Good Guy.

Was pretty surprised to find out that WRV in VB doesn't have anyone there that does repairs in house, they send their boards to the former owner of UltraLite for all their repairs and I just didn't feel to comfortable with that. I remember their shop from back in the day but that is about it...