Surf Talk Guru

When economic times are tight, we tend to try and do all kinds of things to save a little money. Maybe you shop at Wal-Mart more often, go to Costco with a card-carrying buddy, or go to a valley surf shop for your basic surfing needs.

If we want surf shops at the coast, we need to support them. These shops may be smaller and more specialized than larger stores in the valley, but the people at these shops know what they’re talking about. You can’t go into a place an hour inland and find out any details about the local scene. You can’t expect a college kid from the city to give you updated information on how the sandbars have been breaking lately.

Valley stores are used to dealing with mostly beginners, people who want to get into surfing, but aren’t going to get over to the coast much. Service workers rarely get to try out new products and have to read magazines to learn about the latest gear. Coastal shops, on the other hand, deal with surfers of all levels and therefore understand their customers’ needs better. When they get new products in, they can easily test them out gaining first-hand knowledge of products they sell.

Support your local surf shops and, for that matter, your local gas stations, grocery stores, and clothing retailers. Keep your money local and it will come back around to you.