Shove over Hurl and Quik; Sullen’s stretchin’

Andrew Edwards

Surfing and skateboarding are more than sports. They’re business.

Surfers, skateboarders and people who like to dress like them are

shelling out big money for clothes and other gear. Surf wear makers

Quiksilver, Inc., headquartered in Huntington Beach, reported $1.27

billion in revenues for 2004. Is it any wonder so many local

boardriders want to transform their hobby into a career?

Sullen Clothing is a Huntington Beach company that has not grown

to the stature of Quiksilver, Volcom or Hurley International, the

Costa Mesa company that became a Nike, Inc. subsidiary in 2002.

However, Sullen has grown in its four years of existence. Ryan Smith,

Sullen’s art director, said the company is on pace to sell as much as

$700,000 worth of gear this year. Their first year, Sullen’s sales

were about $36,000.

Sullen is still young, and so far, Smith said he has yet to earn a

paycheck from his designs for the company. Sullen’s president Matt

Tompkins said he and vice president of sales Jeremy Hanna invest the

bulk of their revenues into their business and have yet to get rich

from their venture.

“We all make peanuts,” Tompkins said.

Sullen’s headquarters in Surf City’s industrial northwest has the

low-key vibe one may expect at a surf wear company. The Sullen crew

wear their own t-shirts to work, don’t use their job titles if they

can avoid it and the message on their answering machine boasts that

they work for “quite possibly the dopest company ever.”

As far as style goes, Sullen designs have a harder look than

old-school clothing companies whose designs evoke the relaxing feel

of exotic beaches. A Sullen shirt is as likely to feature attack

helicopters as palm trees.

“I wouldn’t say our stuff is hardcore, but it definitely has an

edge,” Hanna said.

Only time will tell if high schools become filled with teenagers

wearing Sullen gear, but the amount of companies managing to reach

boardriders has grown over the years. Bob Abdel, buyer for Jack’s

Surfboards has watched more and more brands end up on his racks since

his family took over the store in the 1970s.

“I’ve seen major changes in the surf market. When we first started

we carried four or five brands,” Abdel said.