Our Core-shops co-workers said the room went dead, followed by five minutes of awkward whispers. Obviously nobody cheered for the shine Fetcher dealt, but you didn’t hear anyone defend the dick dragging German either.

I mean, they call it the proving grounds for a reason, and that kraut got some harmless heckles for never scratching into his own waves, and leaving some DNA on the reef like the rest of those hell-men.

When it aired on ESPN last Tuesday, no mention of that anti-aryan episode made the final cut, but we’re curious how this will affect the mainstream investment in the industry. If you haven’t noticed, Surfline is littered with ESPN and UFC banners. So will future shows be scripted and censored to protect the endorsement dollars? We hope not.

Since when has a prestigious honor ever been entrusted in the burn-out brain of Christina Fletcher anyways? They used to ban the guy from pro surfing looking and acting like a junkie on tour. But, with progressive surfing bringing in the bacon from corporate sponsors, its turns out he was right all along. He was the future, lets just hope his style of anarchical antics aren’t a thing of the past. Its almost like the event organizers invited this jab for the German. If you disagree, you probably can’t paddle either, or you don’t know Christian Fletcher.

This Christian Fletcher video explains Fletcher’s deconstructive ingenuity.

Some good, mostly bad, and a whole lot of ugly best describes the sentiments of many of core retailers when prodded for their reflections of 2009. It should come to no surprise that this past year will most likely go down as one of the worst in retail history. In fact, a handful of shop owners expressed astonishment that they were able to hang on at all. But for all the suckiness ‘09 dished out, its ironic optimism was not lost on our friends, as most recognized that it can only get better from here. So we dared asked the question—as cliche as it is—what are your goals for 2010?

“To build our business and brand not only by expanding, but through new relationship and opportunities that await us down the street. At our store front the possibilities for  Ocean Beach Surf and Skate are endless.” — Ocean Beach Surf & Skate

“Every year our goal is to provide the best customer service, offer a product mix that meets the needs of our local surf community, and get more people involved with the sport of surfing.” – Surf & Adventure

“To stay in business (ha ha). No seriously ~ we found our recipe this year and will be duplicating that with more focus directed on hardgoods.” — Freedom Surf Shop

“My goals for 2010 are pretty simple: to survive! Let’s face it, being a retailer these days is not all that much fun when you start to compare year over year. I believe, for me at least, that there has been a bit of a paradigm shift when it comes to consumer behavior pertaining to intellect and price awareness. Things just don’t fly off the shelf like they did ‘05 through ‘07, and probably won’t again for a very long time—if ever. I merely want to be relevant and continue to keep my customers and vendors happy so that I’ll be in a position to really capitalize when there truly is a defined turnaround in consumer behavior.” —  Anacapa Surf ‘N Sport

“We here at SCS are planning for a flat spring, a better summer, and business as usual by the fall supporting our key vendors with proper sales planning and the appropriate communication to get thru the last of these tight economic times.” — Surf City Surf

 Be afraid. Be very, very afraid. Not only is Stokaboka killing in on the East Coast, they’re just plain killing. Masters of marketing and now the masters of deception, they’re setting the bar for social media hi-jinks to an almost unattainable level. Full bleed magazine ads, big Google banners, ten million Facebook friends–who needs them when you’ve got a digi cam and a sick imagination? Hmmmm… Now you’ve got us thinking Stokaboka. Maybe Swell should host a core shops commercial contest, with the winner taking home a huge cash prize and bragging rights as the corest of the core. We’ll get back to you on that. For now, sit back and enjoy the fright fest served up NJ style.

Now in no way should this post’s headline infer that Brendan is a boozer or that Swell condones under age drinking. Rather, we were calling mention to Stokaboka’s key master Brendan Hall’s dedication to top quality customer service. It seems that no request, despite how trivial or absurd, is beneath his chivalrous demeanor. Including demonstrating how to apply a belt to one’s pants.

NAME: Brendan Hall
AGE: 17
YEARS AT SHOP:4
ESSENTIAL ROLES: Key holder and keeping the shop going!
FAVORITE SPOT: Hathaway Ave Deal, NJ
FAVORITE RIDE: Rusty GTR 5′10
BEST THING ABOUT WORKING AT THE SHOP: I work with my friends and I always meet new people.
CRAZIEST COSTUMER STORY: A older man was at the bar next door to the shop and he came in looking for a belt. However he didn’t know how to put it on and buckle it. I had to demonstrate, and at the end i got $10 tip out of it.

We asked all our core shops to give a shout-out to their steller employees, and man oh man do we feel the love! Prettily pictured above is the lovely Shea Olinger of Catalyst Surf Shop in San Clemente, CA. Shea, it’s very easy to see your boss has a thing for you—in the appropriate boss/underling sort of way, of course.
NAME: Shea Olinger
AGE: 17
YEARS AT SHOP: 2
ESSENTIAL ROLES: Sales and merchandising
FAVORITE SPOT: Spanish House
FAVORITE RIDE: My rocket!!
BEST THING ABOUT WORKING AT THE SHOP: Awesome people, killer shop!
CRAZIEST CUSTOMER STORY: I gave a some guy a gold Skullcandy key chain as a free gift. 30 minutes later he returns with the key chain, gets mad it’s not real gold, and throws it in my face. Ha!

Stop. Look. Listen. This may be the last of a dying breed. Chemistry Surf Shop’s   Jason Bennett performs the lost art of the handshape to a beat that he personally produced. With a majority of the industry turning to computers to produce their surfboards, Chemistry provides their customers with a true handmade product.

eded

What you’re about to see is 100% real. Do not adjust your monitor. Do not turn away. But please let your boss know you’ll be busy for the next hour as you send this clip to everyone you know.

While filming for a mid-afternoon online surf report, Tory Strange, owner of St. Augustine’s Surf Station, captured a spectacular bolt of lightening striking  just a few feet away.  The video and story was quickly picked up by a local news channel and eventually appeared on CNN. As you would expect, both Tory’s nerves and shorts were blown to bits.