For the surfing industry, the recession has become a matter of sink or swim.
Across Southern California, small surf shops as well as action sports giants such as Quiksilver Inc. are trying to stay afloat as the economic crisis that started on Wall Street makes its way to the beach. With surfers cutting back on new surfboards, wetsuits and board shorts just months before summer, executives and workers at surf goods stores said they were holding their breath.
"We're not used to moving backward," said Aaron Pai, owner of Huntington Surf & Sport, a chain of four surf shops in Huntington Beach. "To be truthfully honest, there's one word on my mind right now: uncertainty."
Bob McKnight, chief executive of Quiksilver in Huntington Beach, said the industry had been especially hard hit because its core customers tended to live in areas most affected by the mortgage meltdown, including California and Florida.
"We've been through a couple downturns like this, so we know what to expect," McKnight said. "But this one is certainly worse than anything we've seen."
Industry experts said surf retailers were also vulnerable because of the hordes of casual enthusiasts who have taken up the sport in recent years, boosting sales and turning surf apparel into mainstream fashion. According to the Surf Industry Manufacturers Assn., the industry grew from $6.5 billion in 2004 to $7.5 billion in 2006, the most recent year for which data are available.
As the downturn worsens, some worry that these new customers could dramatically scale back their spending, leaving younger, less experienced surf companies in particular at risk.
"The industry had been on a really solid growth curve for the past 10 years, so this is really the first time that it's taken a step back," said Andy Tompkins, group show director of Action Sports Retailer, which runs one of the industry's largest trade shows. "It's more than just that core surfer that they're speaking to. They gained more customers, so they have more to lose too."
It's not just the occasional surfers who are making retailers anxious. Even the most ardent surfers are trying to save, said Tanya Turner, a store manager at Jack's Surfboards in Dana Point.
"People who are die-hard surfers, who are really into the sport -- no matter what the economy is like, they want to get out there and surf," she said. "But they're still looking for some kind of sale."
