Does it really matter where surfboards are made?

General Discussion
1

I got into a conversation the other day with a customer about air rules, etc, it went on to a ramble about increasing rents and more Blah blah,

It lead me to investigate something,

If I moved my glasshop out of california, into Arizona, I can still recieve the same materials CHEAPER due to suppliers lower overhead, Much less fees for fire, air and dust, Less dealing with anything enviromental. Were talking 1000’s of dollars per year,

Lease: currently I pay close to 2000k per month, for a bigger space in AZ id be paying about 700, There is nothing I would have to import from CA and it would all be delivered to my location just like now, I can run my vans into CA 2x a week for pickups and deliveries. 4 days a week in Az

fri-sat sun in Ca,

I could rent or buy a condo close to the shop, all in all id make more money, Hopefully going from tight budget to some extra cash…

If this is so feasable why are we still here?

It makes so much sense on a business scale…

2

Financially, it would work…but…

Surfers would percieve you as an “outsider”, and you would lose some business just because some guys need their board suppliers close by to hassle, call, or congratulate.

New business would be harder to find, as “local” moniker does not apply any more.

Living in Arizona is not the same as living 1/2 hour from the beach, and some would liken your company as a quasi “third world” production facility…your staff would no longer comprise of beach rats. Anyways, how long before Mexico?

Your two vans would sybolize sheer consumerism, as they are only there to sell, driven by salepeople, who happen to also, I hope, surf.

“Business scale, makes sense”, if it wasn’t surfing business.

3

Do you surf? Do your employees surf? If so, that is the problem with that plan.

4

Ive talked to several people who are considering moving to Arizona for those very reasons. I also know a few who opened a shop up in tijuana. gotta weigh the good with the bad. Does the $$$ you save justify moving to Arizona far away from the beach(assuming you still surf)

5

of my 6 employees 2 surf, And myself, However I rarely surf on days I work unless its really good,plus id still be in CA 3 days a week, surfing 3 days is a pretty good average, as well as traveling alot.

My key accounts dont mind as long as the turnaround is that same.

Its a tough thought to ponder, With a family, you have to decide whats best for the future, with so much cash going down the drain for permits and high overhead, that could easily go to a home closer to the beach so i can enjoy my 3 days more.

from what i figured i would be saving a little more than 3000 a month thats a good chunk.

IMHO, all its going to take is for 1 to move, and I think after a brief period say 6 months, others will follow if the 1 does well.

Theres all this talk about surfing, surfers and soul, but without naming names i know of 2 glasshops that employ solely mexican labor, 8.00 an hour guys shaping glassing sanding polishing etc. There is only 1 who speaks english. The only surfer is the owner.

Its a business first and foremost and although its great to have what I have, We are in a stagnant business pricewise, there is very little inflation in board pricing in the last 10 years, and glassing pricing has not gone up much either, and it hasnt gone up to provide more cash flow, its gone up to cover ,materials, the margins are pretty much the same. so that means my income is pretty much the same over the past years, but every other factor keeps going up, energy leases permits ETC, so that all comes off my bottom line and essentially out of my pocket.

Another reason for pondering is Beat the rush. If any of you are familiarwith the boat manufacture, those guys had to go through HUGE hoops due to air control standards over the past say 6 years. Lake Havasu reaped the rewards of that as now there are about 15 southern california boat builders who relocated there,

surf industry is next unless Arnie changes something. We all now Ca is not a business friendly state and Im still under the impression that it will get worse before it gets better.

6

If we take a look at the success of wal-mart it would seem that people don’t seem to mind where something is made as long as the price is right.

If the worry is losing market share as an outsider I would think the money you saved could be partly used to combat that through some combination of lower price / higher quality / better service, or by maintaining a smaller cheaper storefront presence for those customers that like to yell at you in person.

7

Also, a quick and dirty method to determine if other business owners are doing the same thing is to use the UHAUL method.

Compare what Uhaul is charging to rent a truck one way from CA to AZ vs. what it costs to go from AZ to CA.

Whichever way is higher will tell you where businesses and their employees are moving to.

8

I think the only thing I would leave here is the shaping rooms, Id get like a 800SFT unit down the street and have it for shaping only, and the little one offs could drop thier boards there too. That way no permits air or anything else. and the shapers pretty much cover the rent of that building,

Waaahoo,

GMTA I checked uhaul and its cheaper for me to BUY a 6x12 enclosed trailer than to one way it that direction.

9
Quote:

of my 6 employees 2 surf, And myself, However I rarely surf on days I work unless its really good,plus id still be in CA 3 days a week, surfing 3 days is a pretty good average, as well as traveling alot.

My key accounts dont mind as long as the turnaround is that same.

Its a tough thought to ponder, With a family, you have to decide whats best for the future, with so much cash going down the drain for permits and high overhead, that could easily go to a home closer to the beach so i can enjoy my 3 days more.

from what i figured i would be saving a little more than 3000 a month thats a good chunk.

IMHO, all its going to take is for 1 to move, and I think after a brief period say 6 months, others will follow if the 1 does well.

Theres all this talk about surfing, surfers and soul, but without naming names i know of 2 glasshops that employ solely mexican labor, 8.00 an hour guys shaping glassing sanding polishing etc. There is only 1 who speaks english. The only surfer is the owner.

Its a business first and foremost and although its great to have what I have, We are in a stagnant business pricewise, there is very little inflation in board pricing in the last 10 years, and glassing pricing has not gone up much either, and it hasnt gone up to provide more cash flow, its gone up to cover ,materials, the margins are pretty much the same. so that means my income is pretty much the same over the past years, but every other factor keeps going up, energy leases permits ETC, so that all comes off my bottom line and essentially out of my pocket.

Another reason for pondering is Beat the rush. If any of you are familiarwith the boat manufacture, those guys had to go through HUGE hoops due to air control standards over the past say 6 years. Lake Havasu reaped the rewards of that as now there are about 15 southern california boat builders who relocated there,

surf industry is next unless Arnie changes something. We all now Ca is not a business friendly state and Im still under the impression that it will get worse before it gets better.

If you can save $3000 a month thats almost a no brainer. 3k a month is a mortgage payment and more than alot of people make a month. Do it

10

Moving from the coast to make surfboards profitably seems a bit arse backwards to me.

I think the only reason to make surfboards is to stay involved with something you love: ie surfing. You are never going to get rich at it.

If I was in your situation, I would make a career move and use my surfboard skills to go into something more profitable like auto or boat repair, earn more money, and stay on the coast.

The other option, of course, is to sell out totally, have your boards made under licence in Thailand or China and just be a distributor, and still stay on the coast.

11

Howzit F1, Where in Az are you talking about? I know a lot of boat manufacturers have made the move there. Whenever I visit Lake Havasu City to see my brother and check on our businesses I go to the Eliminator boat factory just to get a resin smell fix. When it comes time for me to leave Kauai to run our businesses I will probably a still make a few boards just to stay active. Eliminator has been after me for years to move there and do their gel coat work and repairs. I must say that moving from one of the wettest places on the earth to one of the driest will be a major shock to my body, But my shoulders are shot from basically paddleing around the world a few times over the last 46 years and can no longer paddle so surfing is no longer a factor. Aloha, Kokua

12

I started looking at havasu, Parker, Quartzite, and Yuma. Havasu being the most expensive of them but still far cheaper than here.

Its amazing how at eliminator they have stuff going on everywhere and if it was here in CA they would be drug out in the street and shot by AQMD officials

13

I’m just a surfer and don’t really shape (except for a couple disasters here and there) and I had a couple questions:

  1. Do you surf a lot?

  2. Are you doing custom orders?

  3. Would you have the blanks shipped to you, and would that run up the cost?

  4. How much is it going to cost you to get the boards to the coast and how will it be done?

  5. How will the heat affect the blanks and glassing process and will you have to buy air conditioning systems to compensate for that (wait, who am I kidding? Of course you will have to have air conditioning. It’s Arizona.

  6. This is going to sound rude, but have you considered that the people will be a lot different there? Socially it isn’t the same place. Heck, here in Southern California even the Republicans are liberal. Think about that. But at least you have John McCain there. He’s cool.

That’s a shame that California makes it harder than other states do. I am a liberal, but I think liberals get carried away sometimes. Heck, they ended ladies night at all the bars in San Diego.

Thanks a lot!

14

Only you can decide how the advantages of moving to AZ balance against remaining in CA, one of a few notably socialist states. The decision shouldn’t be considered personal, merely business.

15

Actually there are some rather cool places in AZ, I’ve even been snowboarding in that great stane, so you might not need all that much a/c. But yeah there are some places that NEED it

16

Good shootin’ in zona,along w/ lots of pools etc. to skate.Fiberglass repairers are greatly needed too! Herb

one+one=two

17 
 Howzit F1, Is Havasu getting that expensive, I haven't been there for 3 years. I do know that I saw some food products that were more expensive than here on Kauai, I found that hard to believe. I know that Eliminator does get away with a lot of things that they couldn't in Ca.. Here's a little known fact: Eliminator boats was started on State street in Huntington Park in the building  that Dewain surfboards had previously occupied. Aloha, Kokua
18

Howzit Herb, You aren’t kidding about them needing repair guys, I get hit up everytime I’m there. But what I really find is funny is people there are scared to work with resin, the old it might kick off on me syndrome. Some people remember when I ran the repairs at the Marina back in 1968 and while visiting in 89’ I was offered the job again. Probably about 116 degrees there today, but our ATM machines are kicking butt at $2.00 a pop. Aloha, Kokua

19

Most of these are answered above but ill put it an again

I’m just a surfer and don’t really shape (except for a couple disasters here and there) and I had a couple questions:

  1. Do you surf a lot?

3-4 times a week, but i would be working in AZ only 4 days a week so that really wouldnt change

  1. Are you doing custom orders?

we are a glass shop primarily , we will still have a smaller location here around 800Sft where the shapers will stay and the smaller guys can drop off boards

  1. Would you have the blanks shipped to you, and would that run up the cost?

We have 2 Cargo vans for toting boards around.

  1. How much is it going to cost you to get the boards to the coast and how will it be done? Vans,

  2. How will the heat affect the blanks and glassing process and will you have to buy air conditioning systems to compensate for that (wait, who am I kidding? Of course you will have to have air conditioning. It’s Arizona. Air condition properties are fairly common I have seen them if not the lam room is really the only one that needs to be AC the fans in the sanding rooms we have here keep them pretty cool.

  3. This is going to sound rude, but have you considered that the people will be a lot different there? Socially it isn’t the same place. Heck, here in Southern California even the Republicans are liberal. Think about that. But at least you have John McCain there. He’s cool.

Im not living out there to live just working so its not really an issue

That’s a shame that California makes it harder than other states do. I am a liberal, but I think liberals get carried away sometimes. Heck, they ended ladies night at all the bars in San Diego.

They Did? Damn See its why this state is falling apart.

Actually look at it this way, when the big one hits and CA sinks, Ill have the first surf shop in AZ bay.

20

Don’t move to AZ before getting me my board. What happened on Friday? I didn’t get a call from you or your driver. Take care of your business in CA before moving!!!