Dawn Patrol:

Officially it’s still summer through Sept. 22nd, but the season ended for many of us on Labor Day.

We had a lot more sunny, overcast free days than usual, the warmest ocean water for sustained periods since the big El Niño of 1997 and some good south swells, including the monster that coincided with the U.S. Open. We also had the ongoing effects of the recession.

So how did the summer go for local surf shops? What is their take on the economic situation?

I checked in with Paul Burnett and Duke Edukas at Surfside Sports. It’s one of the larger single location shops and comprehensive. They carry surfboards, skateboards, snowboards and all the related accessories and clothing you can imagine.

Paul said that overall sales were down from two years ago but they still had a good summer. Duke told me that there were no real surprises as far as what items sold well. Clothing and backpacks were the usual back to school best sellers, and the extra week due to the late Labor Day really helped. Their next benchmark will be December with Christmas and the snowboarding season. They’re getting the merchandise on the floor now and Duke hopes the El Niño conditions will bring plenty of snow this winter. If so, Surfside will have had another successful year.

The Frog House has long been a fixture of the Newport surfing scene. Owner “T.K.” started working there in 1967 and bought the shop 10 years later. He said that when talking about a “down year” it’s important to remember that the previous six years were a period of progressive growth for surf shops. So sales figures down from a record year can still be good. T.K. thinks The Frog House may weather the economic storms better than some because they concentrate primarily on surfboards and related necessities like wetsuits and leashes, and less on designer clothing that is likely to be one of the first things cut from the budget during tough times.

Russell Surfboards is purely a surfboard shop. Gregg Walters said that they were doing well and had recently sold a lot of boards. He told me one of the keys to their continued success is controlling cost by having their own manufacturing facility. Owner Russell Brown, who started the shop in 1967, is still active in making the boards and Gregg shapes as well. He emphasized that all their boards are handmade — no machine pop-outs from China here. A loyal clientele helps as well.

My last visit was with Almond Surfboards, also a pure board shop. The new kid on the block, Dave Allee jumped into the niche market with both feet this March as the economy plummeted and hasn’t looked back since. Surfboard sales are still growing.

The picture is not all rosy and the recession has taken its toll. I heard stories about many shops going under and others struggling. Still I had a good feeling from knowing that the folks I talked with were surviving and even thriving during this rough economy.

JOHN BURTON’S surf column appears Fridays. He may be reached by e-mail at hot_dogger@mac.com.