No to flimsy flip-flops

Marketing: Early on, Longley hired a "hippie salesman in a Volkswagen bus" to sell sandals to surf shops up and down the coast. "I'd get, like, $500 back" at a time. "Man, I was cooking." He advertises in the Surfer's Journal but mostly relies on word of mouth. He refuses to sell to discounters. Rainbow sponsored Battle of the Paddle, a paddle-boarding race, at Doheny Beach in October.

Product facts: Straps are reinforced with nylon tested to support 2,000 pounds, anchored between layers of the sandal. Arch-support inserts are made of top-quality Malaysian rubber. "That's the bomb right there -- and I'm the only guy who has it." Many colors and styles are available, including a hemp-topped version for wearers who shun leather, but plain brown sandals remain by far the best sellers.

Financials: In 2007, profit of $12 million on $37 million in sales. This year a profit of $10 million is expected on sales of $34 million. Citing the economy's woes, Longley declines to project 2009 earnings. "I remember when our sales for the year were $700,000 and our expenses were $700,000."

Current headache: Weak sales at Rainbow Sandals retail stores opened recently in New York's SoHo district and on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. One recent Saturday, sales were $10,000 at the outlet shack in San Clemente, $333 at the L.A. store and $315 in New York.

Personal: Met his wife, Chanya, in 1980 in South Laguna. Owns a contemporary oceanfront home on the sand in Dana Point, an avocado ranch in Temecula and a getaway at the surf break at San Jose del Cabo in Baja California. Pilots his own turboprop jet. Recently attended a 10-day retreat at a Vipassana meditation center near Yosemite. Meditation "makes me unattached to the daily hassles. When you go through the day unaffected, you go home and you're not tired."

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scott.reckard@latimes.com