At Jack’s, surf biz is up again

Andrew Edwards

Surfing means serious business for the family in charge of Jack’s

Surfboards.

The Orange County surf shop chain opened its newest store last

week at Corona del Mar Plaza.. The 10,800-square-foot store is lined

with hundreds of boards, wetsuits, t-shirts and bikinis.

“You can’t even count how many brands we have,” said Bob Abdel,

one of five family members who own the chain.

Surfers, skaters and parents buying clothes for their board-riding

sons and daughters will easily recognize the clothing lines on

display at Jack’s. Gear from homegrown Orange County companies like

Quiksilver, Volcom, Hurley International and Lost Enterprises fill

the store.

In addition to the street wear, the store also has about 850

wetsuits and 300 surfboards in stock, Abdel said. So far, 30

employees, mostly teenagers, have been hired at the Corona del Mar

shop, located at 800 Avocado Ave.

Abdel and his family spent about seven months planning the opening

of their new store, and a large portion of that time was spent

fine-tuning the interior.

The store is large enough to have a wide-open, airy feeling.

Surfing videos with blaring hard-rock soundtracks play on TV screens

scattered throughout the store. Materials such as bamboo and

sea-grass resin panels were employed to suggest a tropical theme.

“The materials we chose were like a high-end surf shop, high-end

organic,” said designer Rob Ripley of Irvine-based Displayit, Inc.

“We try to use materials that are from a beach region.”

Jack’s Surfboards has stores in Huntington Beach and on the Balboa

Peninsula. The family is looking to return to Dana Point in the near

future. The original Jack’s was founded in the 1950s; Abdel’s family

bought the company in the 1970s after immigrating to the United

States from Brazil, Abdel said.

“It’s been a pretty fun business. We’ve been involved with it for

30 years,” Abdel said. “We’ve been involved with every surf company

on the West Coast.”

Though not a surfer himself, Abdel said the younger members of his

family have embraced the sport.

“All my nephews and sons, they surf, snowboard and skate,” he

said.