Almond Surfboards

Rooted in hand craftsmanship and good vibes, Almond is taking things back to the basics. Doing things the right way, not the cheap or easy way. Our products are 100% hand made in California.

When did you start your business?

I started shaping and doing t-shirts in college, when I was 19. So it’s been almost 5 years since the first Almond creations. I don’t know when exactly it transitioned from hobby to business. We’ve had the retail shop since March 1, 2009.

Do you consider the location of your shop a key factor to the business’s success?

Yes, because we’re close to the beach, but at the same time kind of off the beaten path. I like our dumpy old building.

Who is your average buyer?

For clothes it’s a lot of Junior High and High School kids. For boards it’s a pretty wide range of ages. We get young kids all the way to old guys, and everything in between. Anyone interested in traditionally inspired shapes.

If a total Barney walks in do you treat him with the same respect as a full on loc?

Yes . I ultimately want this place to be an inviting environment for everybody. The nature of the conversation is often very different, but I don’t want people to feel unwelcome here.

What is the dumbest question a customer has ever asked?

“Why do you wax a surfboard?” After I gave an in-depth explanation they then asked, “Then why do you wax the bottom of the board.” After that I couldn’t contain myself any longer and kinda exploded into laughter.

Do you have a mascot (ex. - An animal that roams freely throughout the building)?

We used to have a fish tank but put too many guppies in it. We didn’t realize you aren’t supposed to put 10 guppies in one fish bowl; so they all died.

What is the craziest return a customer has ever tried to make?

I actually can’t think of any good return stories.

Does your store support any local surfers or have a surf team?

Yes, we have a few surfers that we help support. Nathan Adams has been with us for a while now. He’s doing some insane stuff on a longboard right now, We’re also releasing the Cyrus Sutton Model longboard early this year .I’m way stoked to have someone creative and established like Cyrus on board. We support a few local standouts as well.

What is your most annoying grom story?

When little kids always ask, “Hey, what do I need to do to get sponsored?” Just frothing for sponsors.

Have you ever had any type of celeb roll in and make a purchase?

We did a board for David Eckstein (baseball player). It was actually a gift for a friend. But he was a super nice guy. Apparently he was MVP of the World Series a few years ago, but I had to look that up on Wikipedia.

Have you ever pulled a hot chick/guy solely due to the fact that you own/manage a surf shop?

I had 2 blondes follow me back from the bar once after they found out I was the guy that owned Almond.

How many days a week do you surf now compared to before you owned/managed a surf shop?

I actually surf more now than I did before I owned the shop. I pretty much surf every day of the week nowadays. Before I owned the shop I was in college and working, etc., etc.; so I had less time to surf. We don’t open until 10:30, so there’s plenty of time to get wet before work.

Who is your favorite surfer and why?

I like anybody that crosses over well--full blown watermen that can surf on anything from a fish to a standard shortboard to a longboard. Rob Machado, Joel Tudor, Nathan Adams, Kameron Brown, and Scotty Stopnik come to mind.

Has a customer trying on clothes ever walked out completely naked?

My friend Stu walked out of the dressing room once wearing just a tee to grab a different boardie size off the rack, and a mom and daughter happened to walk into the shop right then. He was pretty embarrassed as he went scurrying back to the bathroom. We had a pretty good laugh.

Has a person ever walked in totally blitzkrieged (really intoxicated) and tried to make a purchase? If so elaborate.

This high school band played here once for a party type thing we had. The older brother of one of the kids in the band showed up way later just totally hammied. He had been surfing Doho all day without sunscreen so was super scorched with blisters all over his face from the sun. My buddy snapped a few mug shots of him and made a “wanted” sign.

Every store has to deal with shoplifting. What is your most memorable experience and what is your shoplifting policy?

We actually haven’t had any shoplifting cases yet. We don’t really get that much tourist traffic, so that definitely helps reduce the possibility some.

And last but not least tell us one of the craziest shop stories you can remember?

One afternoon I was chilling in here and these two thug/gangster looking guys come running in here all out of breath, both smoking cigarettes. I asked them if they could please not smoke in here, and they were all sketched out and said that they were just looking for a few things and they’d only be a sec. A few minutes later a cop car came driving by. Then a van pulled up after the cop car had passed and they jumped in the van and took off. Pretty classic.