90% of all boards we build are custom orders. We are excited that we have now picked up a small/very small contract to build shortboards for a local shop. The owner wants shortboards in the 5’10" to 6’4" range. My question, for the swaylock shop owners, is “Does anyone keep statistics on the most popular sizes of shortboards sold?”. The amount of each size is up to us but I don’t want to overload them with one particular size if it doesn’t sell well. Any help would be appreciated.
Troy
If it’s a typical surf shop, the size won’t matter. Whatever they’ve got on the rack magically becomes the perfect size for any customer that walks in the door. “this one is perfect for you”. ha!
If on the other hand you live in an area where even knowledgable surfers buy off the rack and the shop doesn’t push stuff on customers, then they should be able to give you a good breakdown of what sizes of surfers they sell to and what size/shapes of boards.
We stock quite a few shops and we do two things. We consider the local surf, and the kind of shop (hardcore shortboard, cruisy longboard, wide variety, etc.) then we develop a “picking sheet” of about 6 sizes within a concept. Grom to big guy shortboard, for example, or 6 high performance shortboards. If the shop owner doesn’t know their customer, then we go more toward the “box of chocolates” with one grom, two shorts, one step-up short, and two big guy thrusters. Also, the typical best-seller in the spring is the "speed egg’ if that is your deal…
Thanks Gentleman,
That was exactly the information I was looking for. The shop is brand new so the owners don't know about their clientele yet. I am thinking it is mostly younger groms that are going to hit the shop but I could be wrong. Would you change the tail types or stick with the tried and true?
Troy
i think that you keep most of the boards in the over 6 foot range. it sounds like they dont really want a huge selection of shortboards.
if i was you i would make one or two of each board in two inch increments and go from there.
if some kid wants something a little more custom the shop owner will know how to get a hold of you.