I mentioned in another thread that the general journalism medias have gone off half cocked on this story and are portraying Clark Foam as some sort of gross polluter who deserved to close - based on their ignorant quick read of his explanatory letter. I mentioned also that the media is seeking out “interesting” people to comment on record. On Wednesday in the L.A. Times it was Dick Baker of OP, a SIMA leader.
How many boards does OP make? See where this is going?
In the Thursday Los Angeles Times business section was an article called “Production of Surfboards Overseas Expected to Swell” (swell…get it?). The first person interviewed was one Isabelle “Izzy” Tihanyl, “co-owner of Surf Diva, Inc.” She declared that custom shaping in California “…is really a luxury of the past, unfortunately.” The article goes on to mention Surf Diva expects their first shipment of epoxy boards from Thailand to arrive in January.
Quick customer order filling or was this already in the pipeline (Pipeline…get it?)?
“Surftech now offically owns the marketplace as far as I’m concerned. said Dave Hollander, co-owner of Becker Surf and Sport, a Hermosa Beach-based surf shop operator that recently struck a deal to sell Surftech boards online.”
The article quotes a Jack’s Surfboards salesman as saying that people are buying boards “…like five, seven at a time.” Killer Dana surf shop is reported as limiting boards sales to one each.
My favorite paragraph:
"Surfboard sales - which amounted to $22 million in the U.S. in 2003 - are a small part of revenue in the surf industry. But they are a pivotal part of the retail market because surfers use and promote a number of products including board shorts, T-shirts and sunglasses, said Marie Case, managing director of Board-Trac, a market research firm in Trabuco Canyon.
I think five years from now we’ll have more surfers because of the demographic swell coming up. Then you have the old guys - in their 40s, 50s, and 60s - who are still in the water," she said, “So there’s potentially a lot of money there from these guys buying boards every year.”
Maybe this commotion seems minor to some people outside the U.S., but it is a HUGE story here. While those in the manufacturing business on any level have to scramble right now, let me point out that this climate leaves the exisitng surf life really vulnerable to attack. Surfing itself is never threatened, as the sheer numbers of people in developed countries isn’t going down, but the “free and easy” lifestyle is potentially in the crosshairs. Swaylock’s is chock full of freethinkers of all ages. Earlier in that other post I mentioned that this situation could be turned into an opportunity to eliminate or restrict domestic production of surfboards for “environmental reasons” while allowing import profit possibilities to multiply. Who is to say unsettled times like this couldn’t also be turned into opportunity to do things like force that freeway through San Onofre State Park, or slide other governmental fun-paks like increased parking fees for restricted access into the mix. How about since surfboards are such pollution generators we tax the crap out of them domestically and then massage our collective guilt by also slapping taxes on imported boards so we don’t have to feel bad about exporting the jobs and dirty tech?