Here’s a switch. An Anaheim maker of protective coating for glasses and windows is moving to Irvine after being squeezed out of its longtime home near Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
In the past, industrial businesses have sought refuge in Anaheim and other North County cities after being pushed out of Irvine by higher rents and demand for space from technology, healthcare and other companies.
But SDC Technologies Inc. is moving to the Irvine Spectrum this month as the development of homes and apartments in Anaheim’s Platinum Triangle made it hard to expand in the area, President William Gregg said.
“We’re getting pushed out by homes,” he said. “We needed to be a in a business park that we could grow into.”
The company, which generates $25 million to $30 million in yearly sales making coatings to protect from scratching, fogging and glare for glasses and windows on planes and tanks, is moving into 25,000 square feet of industrial and office space.
The company has been on a growth push since a 2004 management-led buyout backed by Compass Diversified Holdings, a publicly traded Connecticut-based trust with a recent market value of about $430 million.
SDC started in 1986 as a venture of England’s Pilkington PLC and Michigan’s Dow Corning Enterprises Inc., now Dow Corning Corp.
SDC has tapped a variety of industries for its coatings. They’re now used on polycarbonate, glass, acrylic and metal. Some of the coatings are flexible and tintable.
The company counts about 60 employees in OC and at its offices in Japan, China and Britain, where SDC’s coatings are made and then sold to companies that use them in their manufacturing.
SDC doesn’t disclose customers because of confidentiality pacts. But a good chunk of them make glasses, aerospace and automotive products, Gregg said.
“Most likely the sunglasses you own and the windows that you look out of on an airplane are made with our coating,” he said.
The rising cost of materials and overseas competition poses challenges for SDC, according to Gregg. In Irvine, SDC plans to research and develop more coatings for glasses and windows.
Electronic devices are a push for the company this year as it continues to develop coatings for screens on cellular phones, handheld devices and digital music players.
Skimming off the Top
If you’re from Laguna Beach, you probably know about skimboarding and a small company called Victoria Skimboards that helped shape the sport into what it is today.
Victoria Skimboards does $2 million in yearly sales of skimboards made out of fiberglass, foam and other materials.
They’re used to ride the break of a wave close to the shore. Skimboarders glide over the thin layer of water on sand or skim onto an incoming wave and ride it back to shore.
The sport has been around for centuries. The earliest record of skimboarding dates back to 1920 in Laguna Beach where photographs from that time show Laguna Beach lifeguards skimming along the sand on large plywood boards.
Victoria founder Charles “Tex” Haines has been making skimboards since 1976 and has watched skimboarding evolve from a hobby into a competitive sport with professional riders and competitions.
Many call Haines the “godfather of skimboarding” because he developed and sold the first line of skimboards.
Haines, an avid surfer and skimboarder, ditched medical school after studying at Stanford University and opted to start a business making skimboards.
Back then, people made their own boards out of plywood. They were heavy and lacked shape, which made it hard for riders to do tricks, Haines said.
“The boards back then were nothing like what they are today,” he said.
Haines teamed up with friend Peter Prietto and started making skimboards out of foam and fiberglass, which were lighter and easier to maneuver.
The partners started making and selling their boards to surf shops.
“There wasn’t anyone really doing what we were doing at the time and a lot of people didn’t get it,” Haines said. “We had to educate people that skimboarding wasn’t just a hobby.”
New, better boards helped foster a boom in skimboarding. Victoria rode the wave.
Victoria competes with Florida-based GlasPro Inc.’s Zap Skimboards and Canada’s Zed Skimboards Inc.
The company sells its skimboards to more than 500 stores in the U.S. It also sells its skimboards in 10 countries including Australia, which helps generate sales during the North American winter.
Inside Victoria’s 3,000-square-foot Laguna Beach headquarters and its 3,000-square-foot San Clemente factory, the company’s 25 workers make, finish and store a good chunk of its skimboards. Victoria’s less expensive boards are made overseas to keep costs down.
The company offers about 10 styles of skimboards, which look like short and wide surfboards that measure up to 4 feet in length. Victoria also makes custom boards for professional riders. Victoria’s boards sell for $35 to $450.
Like most California manufacturers, Victoria’s challenges include the rising cost of materials, labor and competition from overseas makers, Haines said.
The company competes by making a variety of skimboards with artistic flare, Haines said.
“The artwork that goes onto these boards is huge,” he said. “It’s what makes these boards special.”
This year, Victoria has teamed up with Lake Forest-based clothing company Lifted Research Group Inc. to make a skimboard that will be available in May.
