RETAIL/LEISURE

‘Northern’ Venture: Spot Sport, the Orange County maker of European-inspired sports and surf wear, is celebrating the grand opening of its first retail store.

But don’t look for it in the surfer haven of Huntington Beach or next to a bait stand in Dana Point. Founder John Bernard ventured north to Santa Monica’s trendy Main Street for his first site.

The opening, co-sponsored by the hip fashion magazine Details, is tonight at the 1,100-square-foot Spot Sport store at 2808 Main St. Bernard said he hopes to ring up a few sales as guests tour the store and quaff drinks a couple doors away at the World Cafe.

Nothing against the Orange County locals, mind you. Bernard said more stores carry the line in Orange County than in West Los Angeles. To avoid taking away sales from stores that carry the line, however, Barnard said he chose the Santa Monica location.

“The biggest reason is our account base down here” in Orange County, said Bernard, who founded the $17-million company in 1986 at age 24. “Up there, they are a little more spread out. Also, it’s a real neat, cool place.”

The company has been doing well enough, Bernard said, to merit moving to a much larger headquarters building in the Irvine Spectrum in a few months. “From a productivity standpoint, it’s time to move,” he said.