Book THE HOBIE SURFSHOP STORY

Book THE HOBIE SURFSHOP STORY

The roots of what is now known as "lifestyle retail" go back to a couple of iconoclastic surfers in the early 1950s: Hobie Alter and Dick Metz. The former perfected the craft and art of surfboard shaping (and later, catamaran design); the latter mastered the craft and art of selling the products that came to define the surfing lifestyle. What started with a few surfboards for a few hardy riders gradually evolved, thanks to the perceptiveness, creativity, and hard work of Metz and his beach-loving compadres, into a retail brand that defines beach culture today.  In Lifestyle Retail, Joe Dunn tells the Hobie Surf Shop story, from those first fledgling board shops in Dana Point and Honolulu to the stores today that showcase the swimwear, sportswear, boards, ocean-sports gear, and accessories that exemplify a life well lived, surfer-style. With a foreword by The Surfer's Journal editor Steve Pezman and extensive photography from the archives of the Surfing Heritage & Culture Center (SHACC), it's an inspiring account of how Dick Metz and a cadre of beach bums built a thriving business around the stoke of the surf lifestyle.