Future a blank for surf shops

A month after the closure of industry titan Clark, shapers don’t know who’ll supply the foam.More than a month after Clark Foam stopped supplying blanks to the surfing industry, local board shapers are still playing the waiting game.

“To tell you the truth, there hasn’t been a lot of solid information on foam,” said Jim Chalupnik, owner of Costa Mesa-based PureGlass.

In early December, Clark Foam dispatched a letter to surfboard manufacturers indicating that the company would cease production of surfboard blanks, the templates that shapers craft into ridable boards. Chalupnik said he has been working on some of his last Clark Foam blanks. Like others in the business, he has been waiting to see the shape of the future.

One likelihood is that locals will rely on overseas foam suppliers. T.K. Brimer, owner of the Frog House surf shop in West Newport, said foreign blanks may not be as good as Clark Foam products.

Overseas foam might not have the same balance of strength and weight as Clark Foam blanks, Brimer said. Clark Foam also was able to supply shapers with made-to-order products, significantly easing the shaping process.

“We are going to be inundated with sub-quality foam for surfboards,” Brimer said. “There’s going to be a learning curve that the industry’s going to have to go through.”

Homegrown companies are also positioning themselves to fill Clark Foam’s shoes. One week after Clark Foam told shapers it was bowing out, Wilmington-based Walker Foam Inc. announced it would increase its blank production in Wilmington and South China.

Marko Foam Products Inc. is also planning an entry into the blank market. The company has a warehouse in Corona and manufacturing facilities in Salt Lake City and Baja California, company president Ty Peterson said. Marko foam sells a variety of foam products, and Peterson said Clark Foam’s departure from the surfing marketplace was an opportunity for his company to expand.

“The opportunity changes because everyone is interested now in what is available,” Peterson said.

On the retail front, Brimer said surf shops are going through their slowest time of the year, and he expects there to be a supply of boards in stores when business picks up in April and May.

Duke Edukas, co-owner of the Surfside Sports on the Balboa Peninsula, said prices for many boards are now up by about $100 and supplies are short.

“We’re whittling down on the more popular models,” Edukas said.