High Tide At Jack's; Iconic Surf Shop Opens New Store
For more than 25 years Jack’s Surfboards in Huntington Beach, Calif., has built a reputation as an icon of surf retailing. It was the place to go for surf fans to find the newest surf and skate clothing labels, and, if they were interested in watching surf contests such as the U.S. Open of Surfing, they take place right across the street from Jack’s at the Huntington Beach Pier.
This reputation might rub off on the new Jack’s Surfboards that opened in Corona Del Mar, Calif., on May 19, because the celebrations debuting the new store rivaled the parties at Huntington Beach Pier. Surf industry luminaries such as Bob Hurley, founder of Hurley International; Kelly Gibson, CEO of O’Neill Clothing; Paul Naude, president of Billabong USA; and Tom Holbrook, executive vice president of Quiksilver Inc. were among the 490 people who toasted the new store at an industry kick-off party last Thursday.
Surf and skate enthusiasts crowded the store later in the weekend to get autographs from sports heroes Rob Machado and Tony Hawk, who sold his Hawk clothing label to Quiksilver in 2000.
When not greeting well wishers, Jack’s buyer and partner Bob Abdel spent much of the weekend surveying the new 10,800-square-foot store like a proud father. It is the third Jack’s store. Abdel and his family still run the 12,000-square-foot store in Huntington Beach as well as another Jack’s in Newport Beach, Calif. Abdel said the Corona Del Mar store was built to expand the brand, and to make a statement.
“Hollister Co. is opening a lot of stores and they’re taking a lot of customers away,” Abdel said of the popular, surf-inspired division of Ohio-based Abercrombie & Fitch. “We wanted to show them that surf can fight back.”
Abdel’s new store stocks all of the top surf brands such as Quiksilver, Volcom, O’Neill, Billabong and Rip Curl. But the store also offers labels more apt to be sold at boutiques such as Da’mage, Puma, Penguin and Yanuk.
The store was designed to promote a sense of discovery, because boutique brands and the surf labels are displayed next to each other. The circle-shaped store is organized into mini-boutiques dedicated to specific labels like Lost and Paul Frank
The south side of the store offers clothes for men, teenagers and boys. The north side is dedicated to women, juniors and girls. Surfboards and wet suits are sold at the back of the store and a skateboard shop is scheduled to be built on the site. Johnny Monson, a creative brand director at Rusty, based in Irvine, Calif., said manufacturers of surf and skate clothes often believe it’s crucial to maintain a presence at Jack’s.
“They know exactly what the kids want,” Monson said. “They have something to offer everyone.” —Andrew Asch
