Surf clothing company moves into bigger digs

Pat Tenore founded RVCA, a clothing design company associated with surf and skateboard culture, in his Costa Mesa garage eight years ago.

Now, RVCA is a household name in the surf industry and despite the ailing economy the company has seen double-digit revenue growth each of the last two years, and its work force has ballooned from 40 employees to 60 employees.

At the end of this month, Tenore is moving his company across town to a bigger building, the third up-sizing in less than a decade. His determination to stay on the Westside of Costa Mesa — a location that has served as an incubator for several of the biggest surf and skateboard fashion companies in the country — led him to the 70,000-square-foot Paul Frank building less than a mile from his present address.

“We want to stay close to where we started and close to the beach,” Tenore said, “and it’s really hard to find a building in this area because a lot of the area is being turned into residential.”

The surf and skateboard industry as a whole is suffering the same consequences as most others due to the recession, but on the Westside many of the businesses are finding ways to thrive. Hurley International had a strong year, and Volcom is steadily spreading its influence.

“From what I’m hearing there aren’t too many companies that grew in 2008, but from talking to retailers it seems like our neighbors on the Westside are all doing pretty well,” said Brad Blankinship, RVCA’s vice president.

Another Costa Mesa surf clothing startup called Aqua VI is taking the old cinder block building that RVCA decorated with graffiti murals on the exterior walls and modern art hung all over the interior. Founder Lian Murray, who started out at Hurley, says the company has seen 300% growth in a single year and therefore needs a bigger building.

Even though the Westside of Costa Mesa is the closest portion of the city to the ocean, it is largely still populated by industrial buildings and cheaper homes mixed in among them often in seemingly odd arrangements. As the area evolves though, surf and skateboard businesses are having a harder time finding room to expand.

Another boon is the proximity to Huntington Beach and Newport Beach, where many of the big retailers that sell surf and skateboard merchandise are located. RVCA supplies Jack’s Surfboards and Huntington Surf and Sport among others, and it helps communication when the executives can meet for lunch and look around each others’ facilities, Blankinship said.

RVCA is happy with the new building, which has interesting architecture of its own with big floor-to-ceiling windows and balconies for the top floor offices.

“It’s one of the last remaining spots and we’re lucky to get it,” Tenore said.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com.