South Coast Surf to Open New All-Girls Surf Shop in Ocean Beach To Replace Longboard Store

Online, April 15, 2012 (Newswire.com) - For over 37 years, South Coast Surf has expanded its retail stores in the communities of Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach. Starting with the first South Coast Surf Shop in 1974, the SoCal surf brand has opened a total of 5 retail locations near San Diego's most popular beaches.

As of April 2012, one of those locations will retire. In order to make way for a new all-girls surf shop, South Coast Longboards has closed its doors for good. South Coast Wahines Ocean Beach will take its place in the same location.

But all is not lost for the heralded Longboard Shop. Co-owner Heather Shields says public perception is slightly skewed.

"We are sad to say goodbye to the Longboard Store, but in reality, our Longboards community is not losing much. Most of the Longboard Store's inventory will be moved to our flagship South Coast store, just a few doors down."

Likewise, the surf wear for women normally found in the original South Coast flagship store will be moved a few steps closer to the beach in the new Wahines Ocean Beach location.

"Our Wahines Shop in PB has seen fantastic success as an all-girls shop. It only made sense to replicate that in Ocean Beach by consolidating our inventory by gender, giving our customers more of what they want in each location."

In 1994, South Coast Longboards (located on Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach), opened for business. The longboard specialty store quickly became a staple in the Ocean Beach community, featuring retro decor, old school longboards, OP clothing, and Birdwells.

Tropical tiki relics and a laid-back environment made South Coast Longboards a local favorite for stopping in to see what the latest surfboard technology offered. Talking story with shop employees, catching a few minutes of the latest surf flick, and picking up new surf gear were amongst the most popular in-shop activities.

To celebrate the Grand Opening of the new Wahines store, South Coast has completely remodeled the Women's Surf Shop with bigger changing rooms, new flooring, and a brand new exterior. A teal awning makes the new shop easy to spot from Newport Avenue.

The official Grand Opening for the Wahines Store is on Tuesday, April 24th. South Coast owners Heather Shields and Steve Cowan have planned an all-day open house event that's open to the public, with live music and free giveaways. On the list to be given away are a surfboard, a Costa Rica surf vacation package, and a host of other surf gear.

Simply text the word "surf" to 58885 from your mobile device to enter (standard carrier and data rates apply). Anybody can enter to win, and participants do not need to be present to enter for the prizes.

The new boutique store will showcase iconic surf brands in womens surf clothing such as Roxy, Billabong, Reef, and Rip Curl, as well as introducing newcomers to the industry like TOMS, Quiksilver Girls, and Oakley Ladies.

In 1999, the first South Coast Wahines store opened on Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach, which has been hailed as one of the first girls surf shops in San Diego, California. Given the success of South Coast Wahines in Pacific Beach, SouthCoast.com will soon be delivering the same superb shopping experience to customers at the new Wahines Shop in Ocean Beach.

South Coast Surf has been catering to surfers, locals, and tourists as a premier specialty store for over 37 years. As one of the leading San Diego surf shops, it has consistently carried top lines of surf clothing, manufactured its own hand-shaped surfboards, and has a reputation for carrying one of the best wetsuit selections anywhere.

Surfboard shaping and board inventory are still at the core roots of South Coast surf shops. Head shapers Robin Prodanovich and Larry Ricci have developed this hand-shaped surfboard culture, and have a long standing affiliation with South Coast.

South Coast Surf Shop continues to operate as one of Southern California's premier surf shop retailers. Its website, SouthCoast.com, features custom surf boards and leading brands such as Quiksilver, Rip Curl, Billabong, and O'Neill.

Find top-of-the-line surf clothing, equipment and accessories at http://southcoast.com and get notified of the grand opening of the South Coast Wahines Ocean Beach in April. Text the word "surf" to 58885 from your mobile device for the latest update (standard carrier and data rates apply).