Join Brad and Chris in this episode of ThankYouSurfing, where they experiment with dual livestreams on Facebook and Instagram. Dive into discussions about the dynamics of the surf industry, balancing surfing with parenting, and supporting local surf shops.With special guests including seasoned surf shop owners and professional surfers, this episode is packed with lively discussions, community advice, and a celebration of surfing culture. Recorded February 9, 2018
This episode includes:
Surf Report/Forecast
Weekly Local Happenings
Being a parent and a surfer
Decline of USA made boards
Accessibility to Surf Pro’s vs Other Professional Athletes
Timecodes
00:00 Welcome
01:16 Division Wynwood Updates
03:10 Surfing Conditions and Forecast
06:52 Parenting and Surfing: Balancing Act
08:55 Community Support and Surfing
15:33 Planning Surf Trips
19:04 The Decline of US-Made Surfboards
19:51 Industry Tensions and Economic Challenges
20:43 The Struggle of Surf Shops
22:20 Navigating Online and In-Store Purchases
23:17 The Role of Overseas Production
28:20 Supporting Local Shapers and Shops
34:24 The Unique Accessibility of Pro Surfers
37:25 The Humbling Nature of the Ocean
40:59 Conclusion and Wrap-Up
Transcript
[00:00:00] You got live inception? Well, I’m going live on Facebook right now, live on, and I just told everyone to say, Hey, go check us out on Instagram as well. So I was actually talking to some people this week about how to do both at the same time. You single feed. Oh really? You’re actually recreating that same effect now.[00:00:20] Oh, am I? This is high tech stick. Yeah. I dunno. I think so. Let’s, maybe we just go side by side.
[00:00:34] Four. Fuck it. We’re going. We’re going. Alright. Dip. Dip.
[00:00:43] Yep. All right. All right. Okay. We are there. Come in here. Coming in hot. Think if we do this, it might lighten us up a little bit. Is that we’re looking for lighting? Mm-Hmm. . Mm-Hmm. . Okay. Oh, hey. Although we have [00:01:00] the light reflect just well. Across my forehead. It might light things up perfectly for all of us.
[00:01:05] Yeah. I thought I’d put my nose in the right direction and get the same effect. I don’t know. What did we make it dark? I think we made it worse. Nelly. Hey, my boy. Now am I dark? I mean, I’m dark. It’s kind of dark. Yeah. Press there. All right. Maybe up a little bit. Okay. All right. We’re working things out. I love it.
[00:01:31] Hey, people in Facebook world on my personal set. What’s up? What’s up? What’s up? What’s up? What’s up? What’s up? What’s up? What’s up? What’s up? What’s up? Watching. Bring them on camera. Bring them on kids watching. Bring them on. Uh, um, Aubrey Koenig, Hawaii. What’s up? Um, that’s all I got really right now. Okay, Brad, how are you Chris?
[00:01:51] Good to back to you. Thank you. I was out for a little bit. Yes. Today is Friday, February 9th. You, uh, were out for the February [00:02:00] 2nd. I was out for February 2nd episode. How was it? It was nice. We had a female perspective on surfing from Anu, a nook. I, I was stoked to see that she was here. I was bummed I couldn’t be there as well.
[00:02:11] Yeah, I know you’re s sick . I was, and I guess it’s gonna happen from time to time where one of us. is not able to do it, and it’s cool to pull in somebody else and get a totally different perspective. Totally different feel. Are we thinking of bringing her in a little bit more often? She’ll do it. I know.
[00:02:26] I’m looking at you. I think we’re gonna maybe have you come back. Yeah, she was, she was a lot of fun to talk to, and she had some really crazy stories. I had no idea, and I’ve known her for a long time, I had no idea that she started surfing the way that she did. How’s it going? Come on in, everybody. It’s a party.
[00:02:44] We’re just having, we’re having a good time. Don’t mind me jumping on in. Say hello to the people on the internet.
[00:02:53] Bye bye. I’m from Brazil. Brazil! Tudo bem? I talk bad. Good [00:03:00] start, good start. That’s a good conversation starter. Brazil. So, you are Chris from First Shop and Division. Anything you guys started in the last couple weeks that I don’t know about? Uh, pretty much, you got your hands full. Yeah, we got our hands full.
[00:03:15] We’re kind of rolling things out, getting tattoos going every single day. That’s nice. Um, we’ve got an event space in the back that we’re going to convert this next coming week. We’ve got some really cool stuff. Uh, we’re working with some medical marijuana clinics on being able to get, uh, a doctor there that’s going to be able to let you, uh, to prescribe you your license as well as do seminars to go ahead and discuss all the medicinal values from the CBD oils to the hand salves.
[00:03:41] Um, and also even asking you, do you know what you’re smoking, you know, um, and really you’re just trying to get away from that whole Spicoli. stigma that, um, that marijuana has kind of gotten over the years and kind of looking at it as a medicinal plant and all its, um, you know, potential usages. Um, even [00:04:00] some of the stuff for like tattoo artists, they’re able to kind of use some of that hand salve on their wrist cause they’re tattooing all day, the lower back from sitting there or like shapers right.
[00:04:08] And, or even the person that’s getting a tattoo, you can go ahead and numb the area a little bit with a good salve. And it. It’s just all organic. Um, so, you know, we’re going to be doing seminars for our older folks, people that are over 60, uh, that might think that weed is bad or marijuana is no bueno. Um, this is kind of there to show it to them and actually have classes and seminars specifically for them.
[00:04:31] So they don’t feel like you’re sitting next to a 20 year old and you’re like, what do I have in common to share with this guy? You know, so yeah, those are cool things that we’ll be rolling out in the next week. Wow. Interesting programming coming down to Division Windwood. Yeah, we’re, we’re pretty stoked on it.
[00:04:43] It’s kind of cool. So we’ll be building that out next week and Please definitely by, I’m sure this next, uh, uh, podcast that we do next week, we’ll, we’ll have a lot more information on it. Okay. You can always check out Division Windwood on Instagram, on Facebook, all your social medias. Absolutely. All this kind of stuff.
[00:04:58] Uh, what else? [00:05:00] Uh. I missed waves the whole, that week that I was out sick last week, that you had enough. There was, there was surf, wasn’t there? Yeah. There was a little bit of waves last week. Um, more so than this week. Although we’re kind of like getting into spring time. It seems was it summer outside.
[00:05:17] It’s February. It’s really hot. Yeah. Really hot. Um, we have anything coming up. It’s not looking too good. Really. I mean, We’ve got basically almost like a springtime or summertime pattern. We’ve got a big high blocking anything that’s going to come south in terms of storms. Um, so it’s almost like a trade swell, east, east, southeast trade swell.
[00:05:38] So you get above the Palmas and you’ll see some east swell, probably like in the chest high range over the weekend. As we start to end into the winter and come into our springtime, winds start to come out of the west. That’s true. Yeah. Are we seeing that that’s kind of getting started to set up a little bit earlier?
[00:05:57] Yeah. Yeah. And you know, these, these [00:06:00] things do happen from time to time where like a pattern will shift and like you can go into what seems like a summertime pattern for a short period of time. And so it kind of remains to be seen what happens this time around, if that high will really just sit there for the remainder of what would be our normal winter season.
[00:06:17] And we could have just had a really early spring this year. Right. Um, Or if it’ll break down and we’ll get something that’ll, you know, actually, uh, push further south in terms of cold fronts and lows that can break through that high. We’ll have to wait. Wait and see. But you’re right in asking, you know, about the seasonal change.
[00:06:33] Um, a lot of times during the winter, you start to see the north, northeast winds. Right. And then as we move towards, uh, the spring and summer, the wind transition more to, uh, southeast. East, southeast. Exactly. Southeast direction. Um, so right now that’s basically the conditions we’re under. Um, East Southeast winds, some of them are going to be stronger at times.
[00:06:55] So you might be able to catch a little wind swell set, but chances are it’ll probably be knee high. And if [00:07:00] it’s knee high chop, we’re your shop. God, I love that stuff. Wow. I had to throw that time. Yeah, I mean, this is the right time for it. It is turning into that season. So come down to the shop and buy some wax or something.
[00:07:14] Um. What else is going on? Oh, on Thank You Surfing this week, we posted a local lens by this guy Alex. He was doing some really different stuff than we’ve posted in the past. It was, I guess, slightly more featuring waves than surfers. Um, and he had like a really interesting take on what waves looked like.
[00:07:34] He had some like underwater stuff, some way above land stuff, so. All around here, or just kind of, he just looked like a mix of stuff. A lot locally. Um, although I don’t think you could tell it was local, um, just because it was like underwater and there’s no defining features, um, but yeah, it was, uh, pretty interesting to see that stuff.
[00:07:54] Uh, what else we got coming up? Well, we got all the previous episodes of, uh, our talk story are [00:08:00] on the blog and on YouTube. So you guys can go on YouTube and, uh, subscribe to that stuff. We’ve gotten some subscribers. Yeah. So people kind of like what we’re doing. It looks that way. Stop. Get out guys. People are commenting.
[00:08:12] I’m getting like, uh, some fan mail and stuff. People feedback. I mean, give us feedback. Tell us what, like, am I talking too much? As a matter of fact, one of the things we were talking about today, uh, was a suggestion. Okay. I like it. Someone who’s a new dad. Another face in the lineup, one of these guys that we know, uh, had a baby in the last, oh gosh, I guess it’s been over a year now, um, Congratulations.
[00:08:40] Yes, congratulations. It’s a tough one. So, his, his whole thing was he wanted to talk, hear us talk about what it’s like to be a parent and a surfer. Uh, I’m not sure exactly where he’s going with that, but it seems like a big one. I mean, lots of my friends are having kids. Right. Um, lots of my friends already have kids.
[00:08:58] I’m an uncle, I’m a [00:09:00] godfather. So I mean, I get there’s like, I want to introduce them to surfing. Like first and foremost, that’s kind of like my first, right. You’re like, this is me. I, this is my role. I’m the uncle. I’m the godfather. That’s supposed to do this. Yes. That’s great. To all the kids. Right. Yeah.
[00:09:14] Like that, that’s my job. Now as having a kid, right. Tell me how this might be a slightly different perspective. Well, you know, I mean, as it is, um, you know, kids consume a lot of your time as they should. Um, and on top of it, if you are in a place where there’s a good consistent amount of surf, um, you kind of, you’re able to kind of manage your days accordingly, right?
[00:09:37] If you, um, if you have to work all the time, you and the wife, or, or if you’re a single parent and you kind of have to put kids in school sometimes at an earlier age and yet while you have to work and you’re all, you’re all of a sudden you’re like, where is my me time? Where do I kind of make this kind of happen?
[00:09:49] So it’s just me time. It’s probably the first step. Right. That’s kind of a challenging on its own. So then you, if you couple that with a location that, you know, lacks surf, like we sometimes do, unfortunately for such a long time, [00:10:00] that kind of makes it even more challenging. I think that’s pretty much gotta be the hardest part because you need to be able to schedule your life as much as possible around waves here.
[00:10:09] Um, or at least give yourself some flexibility or some options saying. If it’s good enough, it meets some standard that I have and I feel like I can do it. I’m taking a sink day. Right. Mental health day or something like that. And that’s kind of important. I’m glad you even said that mental health part because it’s true.
[00:10:26] We all have a mental health that we have to kind of monitor and manage. It doesn’t mean anything like y’all have physical health, right? You’re either good physical health or bad physical health, either good mental health or bad mental health. And it’s so challenging out there already as it is. That’s why it’s always like one of those things where you try to find like minded people Likehearted people and stuff like that.
[00:10:45] And this kind of goes back into the parenting thing as well, where down in South Beach, what I love about it is that you see all these kids that kind of gathered on third street and you see all these moms and dads and it’s a real communal kind of effort where everyone’s watching their kids [00:11:00] and it’s weird.
[00:11:00] It’s very bohemian, like some beach communities or I’d say all beach communities I’ve been to, there is some large group of families, sometimes multi generational, usually multi generational, right? That are just like posted up, holding it down and have been maybe forever. I don’t know. It seems like forever when you show up.
[00:11:19] And it’s one of those things where, you know, you have a lot of other parents that like want to go surf and do this and I got to watch the kid or I don’t have anybody. But then, you know, they find these play groups with other kids and other parents that have people that kind of just sit on the beach and do stuff.
[00:11:33] And they’re like, Hey, you go out there for a little bit. And you know, sometimes all you need is that one wave. All you need is that 20 minutes. You know, and you’re like, Oh, I just, I got some salt in my skin, you know, I got to go ahead and just recharge for a second. And that is part of that mental health that really kind of just balances you out.
[00:11:49] You know, and it’s a difference between maybe just being so agitated and the smallest little things that can snap to being like, Oh, I needed that release,
[00:11:57] like one wave.
[00:11:58] Yeah. You know, all it takes is [00:12:00] that one wave and all of a sudden you’re just like, thank you. You know, we give, you know, thanks to everything that we get out there and, uh, and to the people around.
[00:12:07] So, I mean, as a, as a, as a, as a parent, whether you’re a single parent or you’re, or you’re, you know, you have a big support network, right? Or not, don’t, you know, maybe it’s about finding other like minded people that kind of share those things. And if you never know, it doesn’t have to be someone you think you would ever hang out with.
[00:12:25] Um, but you’ll find that we’re all in it together. Ah, it takes a village kind of conversation. It really does. I mean, I guess that’s an interesting way to look at it. I know I joked about it with you, uh, talking about this sort of concept. I was like, yeah, I had a kid and I had to figure out how to go surfing with a child.
[00:12:44] Like I would, there’d be the four of us, your daughter, my kid, and you sitting in a truck and going up coast. And I’d be like, all right, you got the first 30 minutes and there’s certain phases, right? Because that, you know, granted you might have to sacrifice for the first couple of years because [00:13:00] It’s maybe not.
[00:13:01] Your, your child might not be comfortable with anybody. And they might show a little bit more protective, um, as well as their, well, you know, they can’t probably swim completely on their own either. So you kind of want to make it a little bit easier for the other parent. That’s going to kind of watch your kid.
[00:13:16] Um, so usually I usually find that probably over three or four years old, then you can kind of start doing a lot of these things, but man, I can’t wait to go up coast with friends and their kids and stuff like that. And, and Gigi is loves the ocean and she’s kind of gotten into it a lot. Um, Um, but yeah, I’m still not completely there yet.
[00:13:33] And, um, so yeah, like everything else, still kind of figuring it out. But like, I guess that’s kind of why you probably asked the question in the first place, because he’s trying to figure it out. Um, I feel for you, I feel for you. It ain’t easy. You know what? Come over here. Let’s become friends. Let’s, let’s continue that network.
[00:13:50] If you want, if you need help meeting people, I mean, this shop is actually pretty awesome for it because we always have people stopping in and out, uh, hanging out to talk story and you never know who you get to [00:14:00] talk to and come here and be like, express those concerns and be like, where do I find this kind of support group?
[00:14:04] I mean, he said, you know what, all you got to do is go to third street. You’ll see a good group of kids and whatnot. Get in there, bring a six pack of beer, you know, high five people and say, Hey, I’d like to meet some people. Yeah. I mean, that’s a, that’s a pretty good idea. It just may seem. strange because I think surfing in a lot of cases can be like a very solitary pursuit and so you go out in the lineup, you paddle out by yourself, paddle back in by yourself, get your wave by yourself and so you don’t think that the guy next to you has got like a kid screaming at home like you do that you’re thinking about like, oh shit my significant other is dealing with this all by herself today because I’m here, like I got to get back to him.
[00:14:44] But everyone’s going through that, I guess. Right. And that’s a great point that you kind of bring up right now in regards to teamwork, making it for the dream work, you know? I mean, it’s serious. Like you have to kind of remind yourself that it’s just not you. Like if you have a significant other, they’re [00:15:00] busting their butts too.
[00:15:00] And if that significant other is actually watching the kid while you’re doing the work and stuff like that, which happens a lot as well, you might say, Oh, but I’ve been working all day just to come home and with the kid and whatnot. And yeah, we all. are working hard, you know, and whether it’s she or he that’s staying home with the baby while the other one is working hard, it’s a matter of both the understanding, Hey, I’ve got to as the more that I think about that other person and what they might be going through, that is a way for them to kind of do the same for me as well.
[00:15:28] So yeah, it’s saying, yeah, you’re out surfing for about an hour and you’re like, Oh man, you know, I got traffic. That’s going to start kicking in about 30, 40 minutes. I really liked the cat. Don’t be selfish. Got your surf. You got, you know, you got to kind of recharge, get out there, get back in there, come back early, bring flowers.
[00:15:46] Wow. Good. You know, sometimes you got to change it up a little bit, you know, and it, and it goes so far, it goes so far because the other person really appreciates it. And then what, you know what, the next time you want to go serve, there is nothing worse than being in a [00:16:00] relationship where someone just gives you grief.
[00:16:02] for every time they’re going to go out and surf. And I know we’ve all kind of, not all of us, but some of us have kind of felt that in some relationships more than other, where it’s just like, ugh, why do I feel like I have to walk on eggshells or ask for permission to do it? Um, but if you start doing things that kind of help offset that, that other person will be like, you know what?
[00:16:19] This person is being really considerate. This person, my hubby, my wife, my girlfriend, my baby daddy, is being real considerate. Um, Have fun. Enjoy it because it should be something that you want that other person to really nourish them. And if they don’t really understand it, either you’re doing it wrong or maybe that person is not the right influence in your life.
[00:16:40] If you really are that dedicated to it, I mean Tune in to 7pm as we do the Love Connection Hour and talk about all things relationship. Chuck Woolery will be joining us. Uh, Yeah. I mean, I, I, I’m not quite there yet, but it’s, uh, something that I see with my friends and, um, [00:17:00] I for one try to be generous in that sense.
[00:17:02] Like if I know there’s going to be waves, um, I’ll be like, look, there’s going to be waves. I tell my friends as advanced as possible. Like if you guys can make arrangements with the family, this is where there’s going to be waves. Maybe we can go together. Let’s pack a cooler. Let’s all show up together. I got a tent, you know, like we can make a day of it and it doesn’t have to be like a hardcore search.
[00:17:22] It would be fun. Now we know that we can see forecasts roughly about seven to 10 days out. Obviously the further out it gets, uh, that cone of certainty gets a little bit wider. Um, is it possible that within five days you can have a pretty good idea? Granted I know that weather changes and whatever the case is, but what would you say is how many leeway of days out That you can kind of have some sort of certainty for the most time.
[00:17:49] Granted we’re in Miami So all that just gets thrown out the window for whatever reason even when you think it’s gonna happen the next day Just say three days would be more of a a little bit more of an accurate [00:18:00] number To be able to, again, to try to be able to plan these things and say hey I do it in, it’s a very difficult question, right, and I’ve kind of taken the approach of I go on alert so like seven to ten days out I can be like Just kind of like what we do with hurricanes, unfortunately, it’s, you’re looking way, way, way out.
[00:18:21] And you’re like, Ooh, gee, that could be something come a few days from now. And then if it starts to materialize, you’re like, well, it’s not like a little thing that I need to be worried about. It’s like something that I need to like, look at like maybe every few hours now. And then you go progressively closer.
[00:18:36] And then, you know, at least for me, like I’ll check the buoys and check the winds before I even get in the car in the morning. And, and even on the way up sometimes, like within hours, I’ll be making like micro adjustments to where I think we should be going or where the waves are going to be best.
[00:18:54] According to tide, tides, winds, time of day, swell direction, [00:19:00] crowds. Holy shit, that traffic looks really bad in front of me. Yeah, there’s a million variables. So, you know, it’s, it’s kind of like you spiral in, um, all the way in to what the right forecast is. And, um, you know, there’s that mathematical. Like that math, um, that, that basically narrows down, um, you know, where you should be going and why.
[00:19:20] And like you said, it’s, it comes in at the end and you’re like, and then you can really make a decision, um, like day of where you should be. Right. But up until then, it’s like, guesswork, guesswork, guesswork, guesswork, guesswork, warmer, warmer, warmer, warmer. All right. I think I’ve pretty much got the idea.
[00:19:37] Got it. Um, All right. We got off being a parent and a surfer, but I think we covered a lot of that stuff. I think in general, the idea is rely on your community, find people that are like minded and try to hang out and see if you guys can like, I mean, it just seems like more and more, even on a retailer side, um, I [00:20:00] look to my community and I feel like we have a responsibility to try to do what we can within our community, whether it’s with surf rider to try to help.
[00:20:09] Um, you know, whether it’s giveaway prizes for some of their events, or as we’re doing here in the water testing station, um, but at the same time, like we can, as friends, you don’t have to own a shop to be able to kind of do these things. You know, and again, um, find your local shop, you know, hopefully they’re kind of going that direction.
[00:20:27] I feel like there are a lot of people that are kind of recognizing, you know, what, what am I doing here? What am I doing there? It’s not all about just taking people’s money. You guys gonna set up daycare maybe in the boardroom. I mean, it’s 200 square feet I’ve got a lot of rubber mats so we can let the kids imagine like a little full on like little springboards or like that Well, you know they have those those places where they don’t have any like children All right moving on from the to the next topic Here’s one that [00:21:00] may be a little tense Okay.
[00:21:04] Uh, the decline of United States made boards, uh, on the racks in surf shops, and uh, I know you’re gonna have a perspective on that. Sure. ’cause you own a surf shop. I do. I have a perspective on this because I used to shape glass boards and sand them, which is definitely the worst part of it. Um, he asked my brother, um, and.
[00:21:28] It’s definitely something that’s happening in the industry right now. We’re seeing a big change in kind of how things are done and what we’re seeing on the racks and, uh, the retail side of it has changed. The manufacturer side of it has changed. Everybody that’s involved, uh, has an opinion on it. Sure.
[00:21:44] There’s a lot of stuff going around on the internet right now. Tensions are kind of running hot. Um, so anything in particular you would highlight in regards to tensions being hot? Was there a, a, a recent topic of conversation that was, uh, [00:22:00] that was a hot button on this? Yeah, there’s like, you know, there’s a, a bunch of folks that are working in the industry in the United States and have been for a very long time that are basically calling bullshit on, uh, on what’s happening in terms of offshoring all the production of boards.
[00:22:17] And then. Dropping them on retailers. Um, in a, and you know, the, the economic side of it is it makes sense for a retailer. Right. And if you want to have boards in your shop, it’s really hard to say no to. Right. It’s well, and there’s also the perspective that, um, you know, surf shops don’t make much off of surfboards.
[00:22:39] Uh, they go through a lot of different hands and because it goes through so many different hands, To be able to get to the point of where it starts as a block of foam to the point that it gets to a shop is, you know, from the shipping to the packaging, to the glassing, the sanding, the shaping, uh, getting the product over there, all the raw materials, the, the shipping of, of each [00:23:00] one of those parts, of the raw materials.
[00:23:02] Those are all, they all incur costs. And by the time it gets to the surf shop, you know, we make, you know, a hundred and change, you know, not much off of that. And it’s. And it’s so hard. There’s so many good companies out there put in like five or six. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. So that 100, it’s not like, no, no, yeah, yeah.
[00:23:20] So it’s not as like, Oh, cool. Whatever. No, I’ve got to go ahead and roll the dice. And then, and again, so it’s the same was that you have so many great companies out there and all of these great companies are making so many cool boards. And obviously you can see the marketing value in it from. You know, whether it’s you’re following somebody on Instagram or this and that and, and, and it is literally impossible unless you have a place to be able to hold two to 300 surfboards for you to be able to have, carry a good variety of boards so that people can come here, peruse and find something.
[00:23:49] ’cause it’s a needle and haystack. I mean, so in order for me to have two 300 boards that do that, I’ve gotta invest 150 to $200,000. So that’s the number. That you’re dealing with. Yeah. [00:24:00] That and so that, so why, why is it to the 200 to 300 boards, uh, matter of selection? Um, and, and at the same time, you know, with online purchases now, and I think with the a, with the advent of volume counters or indicators on boards, people are now able to kind of pinpoint the type of board that works for them.
[00:24:20] They’re saying, okay, well this is got this kind of flow. I’m kind of surfing in a place that’s going to be a little gutless. So I’m going to go ahead and I know that this volume is going to work on something a little bit wider and stubbier railed, uh, from, you know, nose to tail and they can find a board exactly because how hard is it that you have to go to a surf shop that you’ll actually find the board that you’re looking for?
[00:24:41] And unless you’re going through two, 300 surf boards that you might be able to select from a surf shop that, you know, that’s carrying anywhere between 50 to 150 boards. It’s going to have a little bit of a harder time. So you might end up getting a board, you know, as a surf shop owner, you’ll probably buy boards that kind of work best for your particular area, but you’ve got to [00:25:00] wait for that person to kind of come there.
[00:25:01] You’ve got to educate people and then try to sell them on it as well. So, um, it’s hard. And then, but then you kind of start to like, and this is kind of go back to like certain companies that we work with that do make their boards overseas. And, you know, they’re. And they have a lot of money to be able to go ahead and set up certain programs with you that help alleviate some of that burden.
[00:25:26] And for me, it’s a matter of having skin in the game. Like we’ve been doing this for almost 10 years. We hardly make anything. We want to do this, but I can’t buy five surfboards. They’re going to run me 2, 500 and then all of a sudden have it due in 30 to 45 days. It’s like, it’s an impossibility. And then it’s only those five.
[00:25:44] So then all of a sudden I do five from loss. Five from Mary, five from someone else. That’s 15 boards. It just costs me 7, 500 and it’s only 15 boards. So the chances of being able to kind of get that sucks. Then you have that person that like will call all the shops. Do you have this board? No. Do you [00:26:00] have this board?
[00:26:00] No. What are they doing? Cause they don’t want to drive to get to here and not find it. I get that as a consumer. I get why they’re purchasing things online. So as a retailer, We’re having to go ahead and start bouncing around. Do you start going for the cost of festive cost effective price point boards for those beginners that will be made overseas so that somebody that’s wants a board can spend four 50 five 50 on a board or if they want that good quality board, I got to have a decent selection.
[00:26:27] So maybe a company will be out there and say, Hey, we’re going to go ahead and float you a couple of boards to go ahead and make sure that you have a good selection because we have extra boards. And, and it takes a lot of that burden off my shoulder because, I mean, still got to pay rent, still got to turn, keep the lights on, still got to pay staff and ourselves, and surfboards aren’t going to make that, that margin for me.
[00:26:49] So it’s hard, you know. The way that I’ve been looking at it though, after you described it is, you have like a responsibility that you feel. [00:27:00] Look at these guys. Ladies and gentlemen, hold on before we finish. No, no, no, no, no. We’ve got Isle of Water Sports Miami. Hashtag IWS Miami.
[00:27:09] Welcome Scott. Hi everybody, how you doing?
[00:27:10] How’s it going? Hi, I heard about the show. Congratulations on the show. Thank you. I heard it’s just blowing up. I just wanted to Just big things going on. I just wanted to come by and see what it all looked like. Oh, you want a beer? No, no, I’m good. We’re going to sit back and let you do your thing. Okay. You want me to do the background?
[00:27:25] Alright. This guy
[00:27:26] over here. Island Water Sports Miami. You know what, uh, speaking of our other local shop. I mean, we’re down here in the South. Scott’s up there in North Miami. We’re the only two places and we constantly talk to each other about board sales and the decline of it. We’re saying we’re the only two surf shops down around millions of people.
[00:27:45] How are we seeing declining sales year over year? Of surfboards. Yeah. It’s not like there’s another shop that opened up. And I, and I think there’s gotta be more people surfing. Right. And, and a lot of it just comes down to, I think that people are finding things online [00:28:00] that work for them, or they’re going to places like, you know, your IWS in Deerfield.
[00:28:04] That’s got a conglomerate amount of boards, like a massive amount, you know, and a better selection to be able to do that. And I get it. You know, it’s just kind of the nature of the beast. So Bob and we kind of do with what we can. . Yeah, I was saying something right before Scott came in. It was, um,
[00:28:22] you know, when you, when you come to a beach town and you look around at all the retailers, there’s a lot of people selling basically like sundries and souvenirs and a bunch of this other crap, right? And crap, maybe crap, you might like it. I don’t know. Um, but the point is that they’re not selling hard goods, you know?
[00:28:39] And you guys have set up, uh, your space. At a beach town because, well, that’s where a surf shop should be. Right. But you’re selling hard goods which have notoriously terrible margins. Right. And you’re continuously stocking them. And you feel a responsibility, I would say. Right. To keep them in the store because you are, after all, a surf shop, not a [00:29:00] sundry shop.
[00:29:00] Right. And that’s kind of what separates you between like a Pacific Sunwear. Uh huh. Or a Buckles, or a Tilly’s, or what we call a feel good store, or a big box brand. You know, the biggest differences in that will be exactly that, the education that we’re able to offer, and the product mix that we have, and hard goods happens to be that, that big difference.
[00:29:19] Um, but we’re finding, which is weird about surfboards, that people are finding in other places, but they still need leashes and deck pads, and for whatever reason, people are, might be buying their boards somewhere else, but they’re still picking up, they’re going to the surf shop for the leash and the deck pad.
[00:29:33] I mean, there is a ton of value of coming to a local shop, right? Talking about surfboards the people that are at your local shop care about surfing and they know a ton About surfboards and their design what works and what doesn’t work And I mean you can order a board, you know online if you know what you’re looking for But how do you even know what you’re looking for?
[00:29:56] And I think there’s still like a really big customer [00:30:00] service or at least like take it out of business terms, just like helping a guy or a girl pick out a surfboard. I mean, it’s a daunting task, especially if you’re just starting. Absolutely. And that, and that’s where I think we as a surf shop, boutique shop, whatever the case is still have as our, our realm to work with or within is making sure you have knowledgeable people here.
[00:30:21] And that are going to ask you all the right questions. And because at the end of the day, for us, at least here at First Surf Shop, and I know Scott’s the same way at Island Water Sports in North Miami, it’s not about making the sale, about getting the board and stuff like that. It’s making sure that you’re getting the right board for the right person.
[00:30:35] Cause that person’s going to come back again. I don’t, I can’t even tell you how many times we’ve, we’ve tried to convince people not to get a certain board because in their mind, they’re like, this is the board for me. And you’re like, well, what are we doing? Wait, what’s your skill like? Uh, I don’t think it’s just like, look, I want to, you know, I’d like making money.
[00:30:52] I’d like to be able to keep the lights on, but at the same time, I want you to be happy because I know you’re going to come back if it’s something that you’re happy with. And [00:31:00] so more than anything else, um, it’s really important that you kind of go to your shop, support them, your local shop, whoever they are, but at the same time, ask questions.
[00:31:08] I mean, gone, I think are the days that, um, you know, that you you’re intimidated. Cause I know it’s sometimes going to any specialty store could be intimidating. If you haven’t done it before, snowboard, yeah, whether it’s snowboarding, biking, even tattoo shops, whatever. Like if you don’t know what to do, it’s kind of intimidating.
[00:31:25] So we try to take that intimidation out. We kind of let you walk in here and just like whoever you are, you’re welcome. Let’s figure this out. That’s the way it should be. I think, I mean, in any customer service industry, you’re not just selling stuff, you’re helping people buy things. Right. You’re connecting, you’re connecting there.
[00:31:45] What you got on there? Some sort of hard realities. So yeah, I mean, uh, I guess, uh, you know, this conversation is really around the idea that it’s just hard for a retailer to be in business one. And [00:32:00] then, um, if they’re going to make a commitment to stocking boards, you know, like they’re trying, trying hard to keep boards on the rack.
[00:32:08] And, um, when everything else is so hard, how the hell do you manage to keep them Those are surfboard manufacturers on a larger scale. What I’ve seen is it was a complete, you know, explosion of the crafted surfboard of your local shapers, whether it’s locally here or in the Northeast. Okay. So you said explosion.
[00:32:29] I think that’s the wrong word to use. Okay. Because, uh, board for board, they’re not doing the volume. No. And I think that, uh, you might be. Explosion in the way of maybe, uh, and again, I guess, I guess it’s more on the social media side of things where you are, I at least seeing that much more crafted boards and not necessarily that they weren’t out there already, but there may be more exposed, maybe more, [00:33:00] maybe there’s more exposure.
[00:33:01] Yeah. Yeah. You’re right. Not exploding, but maybe there’s more exposure to them. And there is more of a interest in the, in the crafting of these boards. Um, of these, you know, handshapes of American shapers. Yeah, or not even American, but just like handshaped, craftsman made pieces of science slash art. Right.
[00:33:25] And I think that’s the whole, that’s the whole part of it is that your local shop may be stocking boards from overseas. And that’s because they want to keep the lights on and they want to give you surfboards. But there is this whole other alternative. Right. Which is a completely different realm really of surfboard buying the way that it is these days and going into, uh, a shaper and telling him what you surf like, and then having him give you feedback on what you should be riding and how he can help create that and create this relationship over time.
[00:33:54] It’s like a, a totally other part of surfing. Right. And I think that is [00:34:00] maybe where the explosion should be happening. Right. And I think that, uh, you know, like even you guys as shop owners can start to, uh, Let people know that these sorts of relationship exists. So, but here and there lies a challenge as well, because you have all these shapers are also going direct to consumer.
[00:34:18] So they’re not necessarily coming through a surf shop to be able to go ahead because they’re thinking, why do I sell it at a surf shop? If I can just sell it directly, you know, they can make that extra couple of dollars and the person just comes to them or emails them or DMs them or this and that, and they work with them.
[00:34:33] So then all of a sudden. As a surf, as a surf shop owner, do you get mad at those local shapers? Cause you’re just like, Hey, you’re not even selling through me to go into someone else. You’re selling them to them directly because you have the access now with social media and everything else that these local shapers and these great crafted shapers can kind of just get to people without being at the surf shop.
[00:34:55] So then from that perspective, what is a surf shop to do? [00:35:00] I had no idea. I mean, I come from a business background. And so this whole thing. To me, like is very typical of a, of an industry in flux, you know, we’ve seen in many other industries and we’ll continue to see it kind of hash out. But in a way it’s worked in other things is that, and what we discussed there’s mass produced boards that are purchased by certain folks for those reasons, and then there’s handcrafted, uh, highly valued and coveted because of their uniqueness, other boards and, and something in between, usually.
[00:35:33] Right. And then the consumer has to make the decision, you know, which direction they’re going to go with. And I mean, I don’t know how it’s going to work in terms of retail, but it’s, uh, it’s, it’s an interesting thing. And I think like you have to support your local shop, you have to support your local shaper and how that works in unison is still buy more surfboards.
[00:35:55] I think that’s the answer. Just everybody should buy more surfboards. And everyone’s happy. [00:36:00] I mean, they’re happy. The shop’s happy, the shaper’s happy. I mean, who knows, maybe we can just convert this room into a shaping room and we can just start doing our own boards. I mean, where’s that? I don’t know, maybe.
[00:36:10] That’s a whole other, that’s a whole other idea. I know. We do have other things to talk about. Alright, let’s keep going. Um, so something that I’ve, uh, watched on CrowSurfing, on the, uh, uh, when they do the live feed. Yes. So when they’re doing the live feed, You watch, a lot of times it’s like when the action’s not happening, uh, they’re about to like cut away and they go to commercial and you’ll see the competitors going into the next heat and they’re about to get in the water or the guy’s leaving and the girl’s leaving the water and you see like a bunch of people on the shoreline high fiving.
[00:36:41] Right. And these are professional surfers during a professional contest and they’re completely accessible to the spectators, to their fans. Pretty cool. And it dawned on me, yeah, what the hell? Yeah. I’ve never seen anything like this in any professional sport or celebrity or [00:37:00] anything. Right. Now that you’re able to get that close without paying that 1, 100 a floor seat.
[00:37:04] Yeah. I mean, like, first of all, it’s just sitting there and then like, you can be like, Hey, what’s up McFanning? High five. And he’ll high five you back. Right. And you’re like, that guy just is about to go upstairs right now. Right. It’s incredible. Yeah. It comes out and all of a sudden world champion is just high five the world champ.
[00:37:20] Did my high five help him lead? Yup. Yeah, so I mean, I think it’s, um, one of the things that I, uh, overlooked in surfing that I really, really love and enjoy, and I have been doing so for forever, yeah. I mean, you paddle, I paddled out in certain lineups, um, and there’s a guy that I idolized like my whole childhood, like, paddling out next to me, and I’m like, holy cow, I could drop in on this guy, and, and then I have a story, and I drop my tape.
[00:37:51] No, I’m just playing. But it is kind of interesting, um, that that whole sort of concept exists. And like, uh, we were talking a little earlier about the whole sort of, [00:38:00] uh, issue with boards and where they’re being manufactured and the role of craftsmen and, and surfboard building and all that. Um, but that thing has been at that conversation has been happening to a large extent online.
[00:38:12] Right. And some of your favorite surfers are chiming in and having conversations. Yeah. With the guy down the block, right? And they’re going point for point like, right. And people are kind of bringing up topics or points and stuff like that. And when you’re watching the contest, you’re seeing. You know, all these commentators from Chris Cote and everyone kind of making their comments and they’re kind of viewing things just as we’re viewing things right now and kind of taking questions from people from all over the world.
[00:38:39] And at the same time, a lot of them are pro surfers that are kind of just chiming in as well, whether they’re being funny or they’re asking a certain question or they might see a question that somebody else asked from somewhere else and be like, Oh yeah, that makes a good point. I’d like to go ahead and be able to kind of touch on that.
[00:38:52] And then all of a sudden you realize we’re all in it together. Yeah. It’s like the, Pros are fans of surfing just as much as [00:39:00] we are. And so they don’t even understand the idea of segregating themselves from the other people. They’re just like, no, we all like surfing. So I’m going to high five that ground as I get out of the water because that’s what I do.
[00:39:11] I think the ocean has a beautiful way of humbling us. You know, there’s a lot of, you know, granted there’s a lot of ego in surfing and, uh, or not, you know, not with everybody, but like, you know, I know there’s a competitive edge, right? There’s that. Healthy amount of ego that you need to have as far as confidence to be able to push forward.
[00:39:28] Um, but the ocean is much stronger than us. And she has a great way of reminding us of that. And I think it creates a lot of humility within a lot to understand that. And then within that, you know, that maybe gets transferred into the brethrens and the sisterhoods that are out there and saying, Hey, you know, we got to look out for each other a little bit, especially when the waves are good.
[00:39:49] You know, you kind of like, Oh, you know, you get those butterflies in your stomach and you’re kind of. You know, you’re watching and all of a sudden you see someone take off on a wave and you’re like, Man, that guy, you know, took, or that girl took off a little late. You know, we all [00:40:00] make it, you kind of see to see, make sure the person’s kind of cool, what happened.
[00:40:03] Maybe they’re coming out the back and stoked and clinging it. Or, all of a sudden you see a board flip and you kind of wait, wait. Because at any moment, that could be someone you know. And, and, or it could be you. And you’d want somebody to kind of come and be able to kind of watch your back as well. And that would go with, uh, If you’re surfing with a pro surfer or not, it’s not as if a pro surfer is going to be like, yeah, dude, we’ve seen good luck.
[00:40:24] I mean, you’ve seen this a bunch of times where, uh, especially on the North shore, unfortunately, come on in here. Come on. Get in here. It’s
[00:40:31] fun. Really? Something like my brain. I don’t want to support. Come on. Come on in. I mean, you know what? But
[00:40:41] we can have another segment where we talk surf shops.
[00:40:45] I’m a little shy.
[00:40:46] No, you, I appreciate that. Get outta here. This is your, this is your gig. You got your notes right there. I don’t notes on the notes, so you guys keep going. Keep my head in .
[00:40:55] Scott Payne, everyone. Scott Payne. Um, we were talking [00:41:00] Oh yeah. Pros and the accessibility of pro. Yeah. So I mean, I think, you know, with like what you’re saying is the ocean is at this big leveling force.
[00:41:05] Oh yeah. And so, you know, if you walk into like Wimbledon, there’s a very clear distinction between where the court is right and where your seats are, and where your seats are. And with the ocean, it’s like the cord is going to kill you potentially. Right. And so when you walk off of it, you’re like, I’m most happy to be in the stands.
[00:41:21] Right. I’m going to hang out here with all the people that are also surfers, just like me. So, right. Whether it’s basketball or football or even tennis on that kind of level, what do they have? They have security. They have all these things that you only see the person from a distance. It adds to that kind of rockstar atmosphere a little bit.
[00:41:40] Whereas with surfing and. You’re on a beach, you know, and granted they’ll create some sort of security blocks for some of the, you know, the surfers as they’re kind of coming in and out and make sure nobody’s, you know, no overzealous fans. But I mean, if you want to do, you can go paddle out and sit in the middle.
[00:41:55] You can be that jerk that’s sitting in the middle of the contest and be like, Kelly, you’re going to get this [00:42:00] one. No, me. It’s amazing that it’s come so far as a professional, uh, vocation and all the industry that’s around it. And it’s still so incredibly accessible. Yeah. And you can paddle out, uh, next to any pro surfer, world champions, and they’re just another guy in the lineup.
[00:42:19] They’ll catch way more waves than you and probably, but they’ll sit there and they’ll have a conversation with you in the water. If you’re in Costa Rica and you have some sort of traveling pros down there, he’s just gone because he loves Costa Rica as well. Just like you do. He likes eating, you know, you know, pinto and rice and having, you know, your lasagna.
[00:42:37] Sauce as well as having some imperial beers and stuff like that and cruising and kind, being casual and you can just have great conversation with the water and they’re like, yeah, cool. Whatever. They move on, you know? It’s kind of like that. It is pretty cool. So, uh, are we about 30 minutes into this thing yet?
[00:42:52] Are we Look at that. I think we’re at 7 0 2. I think we’re, we are about 30 minutes into. Have we been doing 30 minutes or have we been doing [00:43:00] hours? We’ve been doing 30 minutes. 30 minutes. You want to double down today? You know, I don’t know. We’ve been kind of crazy out there, but. I think we covered everything we’re going to cover today.
[00:43:07] So, uh, we can wrap this up. Another outro section. So, uh, this is Chris. This is episode number five. We just finished up and I think. Five, huh? Yeah. I think we’re gonna do six next week. Yes. Right? Tell them it’s Valentine’s day or anything. Is it? Does anybody really celebrate that this go? Well, we’ll celebrate it with you.
[00:43:27] Uh, we’ll see you next Friday, live, and you can check everything on ThankYouServing. com on the blog. We’ve got all the previous episodes, talking about all the cool stuff we’ve talked about in the past. Something that’s pretty relevant, probably for a long time, regardless of the forecast and everything else.
[00:43:41] Absolutely. And, uh, we’ll be back next week. Thanks for joining. Oh,
[00:43:55] we had way more viewers this time.