Manly's Heritage Surf Shop to close its doors

A unique Manly Surf Shop falls victim to floundering times

Heritage Surf's founder:
Chris Moss

Things are tough across the board in surf retail right around Australia and Surf Shops have not been spared. After a long slow Winter, Summer can't come soon enough for some. This week Manly’s well known Heritage Surf Shop, announced that it will shutter its doors on October 12th, 2011 and cease trading.

Owner Chris Moss said that due to increased competition and brittle economic times, the store was under performing and was only marginally cash flow positive. Our forecast, he said, indicates slow to negative improvement in all our market segments, so therefore we'll be taking down our shingle. He stressed that this was not a bankruptcy – but rather sliding out gracefully with a soft exit. All our creditors will be paid he confirmed.

Classic wood not chrome.
A corner Surf Shop in the older,
more traditional motif.


A finger count of Surf Shops in the greater Manly area will fill more than two hands. With fourteen Surf Shops in one major beach location, the economic pie can only be divided up so far.

Heritage built its strength by offering a unique selection of smaller to medium brands. Choosing not to carry the major surf brands but supporting the likes of Patagonia, Toes on the Nose, Okanuis, Deus, Critical Slide Society.

Closing the store is the action that will be taken to optimize their current buoyant financial position. Current sales cannot support the assortments and staffing that the company believes the store should be offering.

Across the surfing market, sales at stores that have been open for at least one year, or same-store sales, are considered a key gauge of a retailer’s health. Many Surf Shops are reporting same-store sales for domestic locations falling for several of the last fiscal years. The ranges vary from location to location.

A lot of Surf Shops have not produced top-line growth for several consecutive seasons according to an analyst report released last month. [Top line is a term used by the industry to refer to revenue.]

Many shops are also cutting prices to chase sales, but this tactic is usually unable to translate into positive sales revenue growth.

CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian said although $265 billion passed through the nation's cash registers in the past financial year, it was the weakest annual growth in 50 years.

"The Aussie consumer is certainly depressed. The latest figures show that consumers are still unwilling to spend despite cheaper prices. It highlights how tough business has found the past year," he said.

The effect of weak retail sales is profound. It can lead to a build-up of inventory, a profit killer for retailers, and curbs their appetite to place orders, which is a killer for suppliers. For listed companies, the effect is falling share prices, tighter margins and negative investor sentiment, and for those unlucky enough to be renegotiating debt - good luck.

Finally; Google Earth will now have to update their Street View
image of the Heritage Surf Shop corner that has been
a fixture in Manly for the past 5 years.
*This image taken from Google Earth.

For the next month Heritage Surf will be clearing out their stocks with a Grand Closing Down sale. Clothes, boards, wetsuits, posters and Sydney's best and widest selection of surf books and DVDs are all being marked down to go.

If you are missing something for the collection - here's the opportunity to fill the gap at a closeout price.

Check their website and Heritage Surf are located at 24 Darley Road, Manly - go grab yourself a bargain. You've got until October 12th!

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Qld veteran forced out by cheap Asian imports

Something to add or say? E-mail us at: swapsurf@gmail.com

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Vintage Car Takes Out Vintage Surf Shop

Vintage car takes out Vintage Surf Shop - but no fear; some Vintage CHiPys are on the scene...



A wayward car takes out the front window of 'The Greek' Surfboard Shop in Huntington Beach.
Photo Courtesy of the OC Historical Blog


Just love this classic black 'n' white image above - which shows Bob 'The Greek' Bolen's retail Surf Shop which was [in those days] located right on the Pacific Coast Highway in Surf City; Huntington Beach in the sixties and seventies.

After an automobile accident on the busy PCH, the vehicle has careered out of control and crashed through the shop's front plate glass window taking some brick work and the supporting frame work.

With his clipboard out, and in attendance on the far left, you can see the classic 'Chippy' - a member of the California Highway Patrol. [Hands up those who can remember the lightweight CHiPs crime drama on TV in the late seventies?]. In the State of California, CHiPs are responsible for patrol jurisdiction and enforcing law on California roads and highways - they also act as State Troopers.

The famous 'Surfboards by the Greek' logo

Surfboards By The Greek was a creation of a true Californian surfing legend; Bob 'The Greek' Bolen, who grew up surfing the beaches of Orange County.

Nicknamed 'the Greek' by high school buddies because of his Greek ancestry, he decided to call his brand 'Surfboards by the Greek'. By his own admission, he figured names like 'Surfboards by Bob' or 'Surfboards by Bolen' weren't going to cut it.

'The Greek', as he is known in the Surfing Industry, started surfing in 1958 and began shaping in 1959. The Greek started out making surfboards for himself and a few friends, but it was a local bicycle shop owner who gave him his first shot at building boards commercially. Witnessing the huge growth in surfing's popularity, he asked Bob to make boards to sell in his bike shop.

Bob in the halcyon days of Surfboards
by the Greek in Huntington Beach.

In 1960 Bob opened his own shop, where he manufactured and sold surfboards. The shop closed its doors way back in 1980. But thirty years after shutting the Surf Shop, Bob is still just around the corner where he sells real estate. His office, at 322 Main St, in Huntington Beach, also features a small 'Surfboard Museum'. The accident photo above came from the Huntington Beach Historic Resources Board.


Even though he shut the doors of the shop in the summer of 1980, Bob never traveled far from the beach he loved or the surfing industry he helped change with his now-famous surfboard shapes such as the The Maui Model, The Eliminator, The Liquidator, The Pickle and The Outlaw (among others). More recently he has added The Stylemaster and The Shorty to his growing list of memorable designs.

In 2011 at 68 years old, Bob 'The Greek' Bolan is still considered by many of his peers to be an all-time master of his craft. 'The Greek' has been designing and shaping custom surfboards for over 45 years. In 2006 he was inducted into Huntington's Surfing Walk of Fame.


Today: Californian Surf Legend Bob Bolan in his unique
Huntington Beach Surf Museum/Real Estate Office

To this day, you can still check-out his surfboard designs when visiting Huntington Beach Realty... a real estate office/surf outlet, where Bob is the Broker/Owner as well as the President of Surf Incorporated.

Bob says; "my office looks more like a Surf Shop than a Real Estate office". The office is located right on Huntington's famous Main Street at 322 Main Street in Downtown Huntington Beach, CA 92648.

After all these years; Surfboards by The Greek are also still available. Click here for their website.

Steve Core

AUG 2011: Check my brand new blog; Swap Surf - a blog [as it grows] that will list, detail and report on Surf Swap meets and dry land surfboard events. Click Here

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Huntington Beach Surfboard Pioneer 'Gordie' passes away

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