Sugarplums, surfboards dance in their heads

Andrew Edwards

Local groms may be lucky enough to find a new surfboard or wetsuit

under the tree this year, as Newport Beach surf shops have been busy

ringing up surf gear for many parents on missions to complete their

children’s Christmas lists.

“Christmastime is a huge amount of parents buying wetsuits and

stuff for their kids,” said T. K., owner of the Frog House in West

Newport. T.K. doesn’t use his last name.

“No one knows or cares; I’m just T. K. at the Frog House,” he

said. “I’ve been that for 37 years.”

From year to year, December is the Frog House’s biggest single

month for sales, though 60% of the store’s sales are made from June

through August. Other store’s experience similar patterns.

“It’s pretty much summer or Christmas,” said Skylar Taugher, a

clerk at the Westend Board Shop in West Newport.

The Frog House has stayed low-tech over the years -- clerks still

write out receipts by hand -- but Christmastime sales patterns at the

store have evolved with the proliferation of technology, T.K. said.

A recent trend is for parents to come into the store equipped with

computer printouts showing pictures of exactly what boards and gear

their children want.

“They come in with a computer-generated list and say, ‘My son

wants that,’ and I say, ‘I got that,’” T. K. said.

Sales are up at other stores, too. During much of the winter,

snowboard sales make a big chunk of Surfside Sports’ business.

But with Christmas on the horizon, clerks at the Balboa Peninsula

shop have been selling a lot of surf gear.

“The store’s been picking up over the last week or so,” Surfside

Sports general manager Nick Skawinski said.

“Before, it’s just been snowboarding stuff, but now it’s getting

back into surfing and stuff, because it’s Christmas.”

Another factor impacting increased sales is that new surf products

often come out around the holidays, Scott Griffith, a clerk at the

Westend Board Shop. “Everybody saves their money for this time of

year, when the new boards come in,” Griffith said.

Dedicated surfers don’t let the cold water keep them from the

waves during the winter, and Griffith suggested people interested in

learning how to surf should also brave the chilly ocean.

“If you start when the water’s cold, then you expect it, and you

become a year-round surfer,” he said.