Green Room goes online

Alicia Robinson

In Newport Beach, only the most dedicated surfers brave icy February

temperatures to practice their sport, leaving few shopping for

surfboards and sunglasses this time of year.

But it’s warm somewhere. To combat the depressing effect of winter

weather on his business, Green Room Surf Shop proprietor Gregg

Steiner took his business online at Amazon.com in December.

“The challenge of taking the store over is taking a business

that’s seasonal and trying to make it something that’s steady,” said

Steiner, a Philadelphia native who bought the Green Room’s business

in 2001.

The West Coast Highway store sells surfboards and accessories,

skateboards, body boards, shoes, T-shirts and a variety of other

merchandise for the board sports crowd.

Until recently, the Amazon website had little in the way of

sporting goods, Steiner said, but the site has branched out into

everything from camping and hiking gear to equipment for team sports

such as lacrosse.

“It’s still new, and we got in on the ground floor,” he said.

One other surf shop, Swell, also sells through Amazon.com, but

Steiner said it’s an online-only outlet, so he’s the sole source that

also has a brick and mortar store that customers can visit.

“With a retail store, everything’s so seasonal and trendy,”

Steiner said. “It’s got to go in and go out quick, and if you

overstock, you kill yourself.” The Green Room can also carry brand

names online that can’t be sold in the store because of other stores’

sales territory agreements, said Emily Smith, who works entering

product information to go online at the surf shop.

Smith, a business student at Concordia University in Irvine, has

worked at the Green Room for about six months. She’s had to learn new

skills continually to keep up with Amazon’s evolving sporting goods

venue, she said.

The work can be time-consuming, and she has to double-check all

the data, but she’s learning more about small business as well as

online sales, she said.

Steiner said his store’s presence on Amazon.com has been great for

business because of the site’s exposure and credibility with online

shoppers.

“The response was immediate,” Steiner said. “The thing about

Amazon that’s wonderful is we don’t have to do any marketing.

Everything’s done for us.”

While Steiner has sold a number of long-board skateboards and

surfboard accessories through Amazon, he’s only sold one surfboard

online so far. He doesn’t expect surfboard orders to pick up much

because shipping them is costly, he said.

Having the surfboards shown on Amazon is like an online catalog,

he said, which generates more interest in the store.

Steiner expects his online business to grow, perhaps eventually

surpassing his in-store business. He’s planning to hire an employee

to manage online sales, and he’s trying to prepare for the rush of

summer business.

“We’re getting this much attention now from Amazon, and it’s the

absolute bottom, worst time of the season,” he said. “We just need to

be ready for it, because it’s going to happen.”

The Green Room Surf Shop is at 6480 W. Coast Highway in Newport

Beach.