Surfers mellow despite shortage

‘It’s going to be no big deal,’ insider says of abrupt shutdown of Clark Foam, major industry supplier.Last week’s news that surf industry supplier Clark Foam has shut down production means it’s time for surfers, shapers and surf shop retailers to panic, right?

“We’re not going anywhere,” said Jim Chalupnik, who owns PureGlass, a Costa Mesa surfboard manufacturing company.

Though Chalupnik and others in the Newport-Mesa surf industry expressed confidence that local businesses would recover from Clark Foam’s shutdown, that’s not to say that people don’t expect a short-term crunch and changes in the future.

Without a reliable supply from Clark Foam, board prices have already started to rise, and surfers likely can expect a shortage of surfboards over the next few months.

“Things are going to be OK, but it’s going to be a while,” said Duke Edukas, co-owner of Surfside Sports, a Newport Beach surf shop.

For decades, Clark Foam, based in Laguna Niguel, supplied shapers with foam blanks. Blanks are the basic template from which surfboards are made. In a letter dated Dec. 5, the company’s owner, Gordon “Grubby” Clark, informed shapers that he would stop making and selling blanks.

Clark Foam’s blanks were made using a toxic chemical called toluene diisocyanate. Clark wrote that he could not continue business in the current climate of environmental regulations and that he feared the possibility of paying heavy fines or even doing time in prison. However, an Environmental Protection Agency spokesman said last week that Clark Foam’s operations did not violate federal law.

Clark Foam was not the only company in the foam blank business. Blanks can be purchased from foreign suppliers as well as from a nearby company, Wilmington-based Walker Foam, local shapers said.

“We’re going to depend on overseas,” said Roger Baltierra, owner of Baltierra Custom Surfboards in Costa Mesa.

Baltierra said he did not rely exclusively on Clark Foam products and expects to weather the current situation. Greg Walters, manager of Cordell Surfboards in Costa Mesa, also expects other foam companies to fill the gap.

“It’s going to be no big deal. There are other suppliers,” Walters said.

Chalupnik said Clark Foam’s absence from the marketplace creates an opportunity for smaller foam companies.

For shapers, though, finding a new supplier is not a seamless transition.

As Chalupnik explained, Clark Foam’s molds were tailor-made for different shapers, meaning that when blanks were delivered, they were already pretty close to their final shape.

Also, Clark Foam’s blanks were prized by those in the industry.

“Nobody could come close to his product,” said Lance Collins, owner of Costa Mesa’s Wave Tools Surfboards.

In the wake of Clark Foam’s announcement, Collins said he has had to raise prices. He upped the price of short board by $100 and marked up longboards by $150. As he and other shapers adjust to a changed marketplace, Collins said there could be a two-month shortage of boards.

Edukas said he has raised prices at his shop by $100 to stem the tide of buying in anticipation of a shortage.

“For the next three to six months, it’s going to be a tough nut to crack. We’re not going to have boards,” Edukas said. “We do not want to sell out of boards if we can help it.”

Like others, Edukas expects other companies will produce blanks to make up for Clark Foam’s lost output. However, he expects surfers will have to pay more for boards as the industry moves on.

“When we are able to get more boards, they’re going to cost us more,” he said.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at andrew.edwards@latimes.com.

20051212ird0pdknDON LEACH / DAILY PILOT(LA)Clark Foam blanks are a building-block of surfboards. The company’s abrupt closure has thrown the industry for a loop. 20051212ird0p7knDON LEACH / DAILY PILOT(LA)Shaper Lance Collins of Wave Tools surfboards talks about the recent closure of Clark Foam, the major supplier of board blanks.