Jack’s Surfboards isn’t planning to ride out the tough economy by sitting on the beach.
The retailer, which has built a following with its iconic surf shop in Huntington Beach, just paid $6.2 million for a building in downtown San Clemente and signed a lease for another shop in Irvine.
The retailer expects to open the 9,300-square-foot Irvine store in Oak Creek Village Center in August, said David Knowlton of NAI Capital in Newport Beach, who represented Jack’s in both deals.
The lease is for 10 years with The Irvine Company. It will be Jack’s fifth store.
The San Clemente store is expected to open in early 2009, Knowlton said.
The moves could be risky in the slow economy, which has hit retailers particularly hard.
Retail sales have been mixed for many stores, including Orange County’s two biggest retail chains.
Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., which sells surf- and skate-inspired garb, saw its same-store sales drop 3% in May, while Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc., which sells clothes to teen girls and young women, saw same-store sales fall 2%.
Jack’s co-owner Bob Abdelfattah said he feels the family-owned chain “is strong enough to handle it.”
The retailer is known throughout surf circles as a savvy business operator and draws buyers from around the globe, who check its stores to spot the latest trends.
Jack’s other stores, including those in Dana Point, Newport Beach and Corona del Mar, are “doing very good,” Abdelfattah said.
“The economy is a concern for everybody,” he said. “We have to work harder.”
Jack’s is doing its homework for the San Clemente building, which is at 166 to 176 Avenida del Mar.
It’s broken into six retail spaces and totals more than 10,100 square feet.
Abdelfattah said he expects Jack’s store to be 8,000 to 9,000 square feet. He said he’s not sure what will happen to the rest of the space or the stores that are already there.
The building has tenants, including Mary Jane’s Fabrics, which is at 166 Avenida del Mar, and Russell Stationers at 176 Avenida del Mar, which has been there for 20-plus years.
Abdelfattah said many of the leases are up at the end of the year.
Good Location
Jack’s, whose stores are packed with OC’s hippest surf and skate brands, had eyed San Clemente for some time.
“We liked that location,” Abdelfattah said. “San Clemente is a good surf city.”
Avenida del Mar is in the retail hub of the city.
The street is speckled with hip coffee houses, restaurants and trendy clothing boutiques, including two surf shops recently opened by Hobie, based in San Juan Capistrano.
Killer Dana, which also has a store in Dana Point, opened a shop there a few years ago.
Local officials have sought to revamp the area in the past few years and bring in new shops.
Abdelfattah said competition is good for business since it gives customers more of a selection and draws them to the area.
“There’s enough business for everybody,” Abdelfattah said. “We can help each other.”
That scenario has already played out in Huntington Beach, where Jack’s has a store on Main Street, across from Huntington Surf & Sport and in walking distance to several other surf shops.
The area is a big destination for locals and tourists during the summer.
Competition to get into a Jack’s store among startup labels and established lines is fierce. The floor racks and walls are jammed with tops, shorts, sunglasses, pants and more.
Abdelfattah said Jack’s likes to have a large selection of each brand.
“We like to carry it from A to Z,” he said.
Jack’s is already talking with its suppliers and brands on what to sell in its new San Clemente location.
“We are studying the area very heavily,” Abdelfattah said. “We always work really closely with the brands.”
It’s nothing new for Abdelfattah.
He and his brother Ron have spent decades cultivating relationships with these labels.
They started out at Jack’s in 1973, when their family bought the shop from its owner, Jack Hokanson, who opened the store in 1957.
The Abdelfattahs, who are Palestinian, didn’t know anything about surfwear at the time.
But they have since built a reputation for running stores that set trends for surf fashion.
They’ve also snatched up retail space as it has become available.
During the past few years, Jack’s has expanded its shops in Huntington Beach and opened stores, including one in Dana Point, which opened in 2005.
Jack’s San Clemente store will be its sixth location.
