Editorial Note: This retailer showcase, presented by Feelgoodz, highlights the continued success of surf shops around the country. Feelgoodz is a North-Carolina based footwear brand that crafts its flip-flops from natural rubber trees in Thailand, and is committed to leaving a positive footprint on the planet. Learn more at www.feelgoodz.com.
A two story building with yellow banners that read SURF DIVA just a few blocks from the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla, California: it looks like, well, just a surf shop. But the truth is far from that.
Photo courtesy Surf Diva
The best surf shops are more than a brick and mortar locations with gear and price tags, and that's exactly how you can describe Surf Diva. A surf shop yes, but a business that promotes the community around it so much so that it's launched a movement promoting both women's surfing and the sport as as whole that has spanned decades.
Surf Diva’s storefront on Avenida De La Playa is only a portion business; the rest of it exists within the community, at the sandy beach, in the salty water, and in the streets between it all.
The question is: how did a brick and mortar shop like Surf Diva launch a movement for women’s surfing?
The answer begins with the passion behind it, which first came to fruition in 1996.
Izzy and Coco Tihanyi, twin sisters who loved surfing ... Izzy herself competed on the UCSD Surf Team, and was an overall NSSA Collegiate Champion in 1988 ... launched an all women’s surf school in La Jolla Shores in 1996.
It was simple, really: it started as a way for women to learn how to surf, historically a male-dominated sport.
It was this surf school that acted as the spark that lit the Surf Diva flame, which has been burning bright for more than 2 decades.
After starting the surf school in 1996, Izzy and Coco had much more attendance than they expected from women who wanted to learn how to ride waves to shore and more coverage than they expected: they were featured in the prestigious Wall Street Journal just a year later.
Izzy and Coco. Photo courtesy Surf Diva
“Our phones were ringing off the hook,” Coco said. “The aim behind 5 day and weekend surf clinics was brining other people to have shared experiences. It’s not about who can do better; it’s who‘s having the most fun in the water. Water is the great equalizer for everyone; our clinics were all about breaking barriers and generating goodwill."
The sisters found a small shop to operate out of - Izzy and Coco both called it “a hallway” - and decided to apply their momentum towards products, such as surfboards.
Thanks to licensing help with SurfTech, they began selling Surf Diva surfboards around the world, their logo reaching the warm waters of Central America and even Europe. Along the way, the Surf Diva and Flexdex skateboards even outsold Kelly Slater licensed skateboards.
Years later, in 2004, they grew the shop from "the hallway" to what they called "the atrium": the two story location they still operate out of to this day. Just like with the launch of their surf school years prior, they were shocked with the amount of foot traffic they were getting, a good amount of it thanks to the sensational flick "Blue Crush" that had exposed surfing to even more women surfers.
By offering not just products but an experience, Surf Diva went from an idea to a booming brand and women's surfing was truly synonymous with the Surf Diva brand.
That's one way to start a movement. But, how do you keep maintain that brand momentum?
“For us, we have chosen to stay authentic and offer brands in our store that are core, up and coming and even re-emerging,” Coco said. “We chose and continue to choose those brands that support the industry. We're not afraid to bring in those new brands that can speak from their heart.”
“Coco’s super power is mentoring emerging brands and finding the ones showing promise and authenticity," Izzy said. "She’s mentored so many new brands that have made it … so many people say ‘you’re the ones that opened the door for me.’”
What has also sustained Surf Diva's momentum and movement is is both sisters utilizing each other’s strengths.
“Izzy is the surf; I’m the diva,” Coco said. “She’s out in the water and on the beach with our 50 instructors, and I’m in the shop, ordering. It’s fun to work as sisters.”
Photo courtesy Surf Diva
“It's about listening to what customers are asking for," Coco said. "And shopping a lot. Finding out what’s trending, what music people are listing to. At Surf Diva, we like to make our customers feel happy with surfing, experience the ocean, and feel good when they're in the shop. It's about being genuine and not giving advice just to make a sale. We want everyone to be stoked on their purchase and their experiences."
Photo courtesy Surf Diva
With so much success behind them, and continuing their momentum and movement in the future, what advice would they give to current or new surf shop owners?
"You want to know the location, know the landlord, surround yourself with good people ... but above all, be involved in community," Coco said. "If you open a shop and don't care about the community, it will be hard to get support. If you love the community as a brick and mortar store, they will love you back."
Izzy added in a small but powerful line: "And don’t sign a lease without first right of refusal."
Being intertwined with the community, using your business partner's strengths, listening to the customers, and an endless amount of hard work: Add it all together and you don’t just get Surf Diva: you get a movement promoting women's surfing and surfing as a whole that will continue to live on as a forever part of the surf industry's story.