The Surf Valley Surf Shop: The best Surf Shop
I'm going to tell you the story of how the idea of creating The Surf Valley Surf Shop came about.
I'll tell you later about my beginnings in surfing, but I was living in California for two years. It is in those years when the idea of The Surf Valley began to form.
He lived on 28th Street in Newport Beach. In front of the beach and as you will understand that area is full of surf shops. In fact one of the most famous surf shops "The Frog House" was literally a 10 minute walk away.
There I also discovered the figure of the shaper. Oh blessed shaper. In California they are revered. But since that's enough for another blog post, we'll go into more detail later.
After those two years and thousands of visits to shapers and surf shops, I began to notice a pattern, which I will reveal to you later.
Once I returned to Spain, the first place I went surfing was Somo, Cantabria. And as I went surfing and explored the Cantabrian coast, I noticed the same "pattern".
There are many shops and surf schools . Obviously, they all share their passion for surfing, but they also share the following:
- They have a local spirit
- They are independent, they are not tied to any renowned international brand.
- They create and manufacture their own products. The same thing happened in California.
After several trips to France and Portugal, I discovered the same thing, all surf shops share these values or attributes.
From yours and mine's point of view, that is, from the client's point of view, in these surf shops we can discover products that we will only find in each of them.
And here the "pattern" became a business idea based on a surf shop.
- Why not create a space where all those brands and shapers can share their services and products?
- Why, if I am a surfer from Cádiz, can I not buy a board from a shaper in the Basque Country?
Obviously, you can do it, but it's not easy.
After my trip to Portugal, I discovered a surf store with original surf t-shirts , but when I returned, I couldn't buy it online, it didn't have its product uploaded to a website.
The idea was clear, a space where all the surf shops , brands, shapers, schools, etc. They can have extra visibility and you, a surfer, can discover unique products while supporting local business.
Everything was perfect, it made a lot of sense in my head. It was the definitive surf shop. I just needed a name.
Until one day, after many days of thinking about it, it occurred to me: The Surf Valley, the valley of surfing. It was perfect, as it conveyed what this online surf shop means.
Why create an Online Surf Shop?
The Surf Valley is a space, a valley, where everyone has a place. A valley that can extend and have different corners, from surfboards to clothing or even photographers and content creators related to the world of surfing. All this of course, if you like the idea and it goes ahead. For this reason it had to be an online surf shop (if in the future the valley develops so much that we can create surf shops near each of you, it would be great).
{Spoiler: We have created a collection of The Surf Valley clothing where all profits are destined to improve the platform and give more visibility to Shapers and Surf Brands. Here you can discover The Surf Valley Brand products}
I imagine it as that oasis in the desert, a valley where everything is green, there is water. A beautiful valley, damn.
The concept of the surf shop was clear, as was the name. Now I just had to find the values.
The Surf Valley, a Surf Shop near you
Defining the values and mission of The Surf Valley was actually simple, and the values are defined in this sentence:
"The Surf Valley is a global market with a local mentality, where you can discover and connect directly with independent brands and local shapers.
It's the place where you can find that t-shirt that was missing from your collection, get a custom surfboard made with your favorite local shaper or purchase the last accessory you needed to take your surfing to the highest level!
We live in a hyper-connected world, where independent companies flourish in all corners of the world, looking for their place in it, and our goal is to bring them closer to you so that you can have them in one place.
"We want to build a valley with the purpose of preserving human connection as the center of commerce, we do not just want you to buy, but rather to discover and get to know who you buy from, their history, values and philosophy of life."
Although it may sound repetitive, it is the perfect definition for The Surf Valley.
We are a surf shop that seeks to connect you with other surf shops. The surf shop of surf shops. If you are looking for a physical surf shop near you, we will soon have a list of the best surf shops on the national scene and we will set up a system so that you can enter your zip code and the nearest surf shop will appear.
With this I just want to convey to you that the valley does not stop growing, that it is infinite and that you have the possibility of being one of the first to join this community of crazy people passionate about surfing, local shapers and independent surf brands.
Find everything you are looking for in our Surf Shop: From surfboards to surf clothing.
Although the original idea was that the surf shop would only be a space for local shapers, as the "pattern" became consolidated we realized that we had to fill the valley with all kinds of products, come on, the same ones that you can find in a surf shop but on a large scale.
Surfboards shop: The temple of handmade surfboards
We set up The Surf Valley to give visibility to shapers, offer them an extra space to show their designs and works of art. In short, a temple that collects all handmade surfboards . As an offering, we have created "The Temple of Handshapes" t-shirt
Surf Clothing Surf Shop:
Unfortunately, the modern world is characterized by the fact that human beings wear clothes. We would like to live in swimsuits all year round and surf in the sun every day. Well, to be honest, I'm in favor of always surfing with a neoprene jacket, but I'm getting lost... Like any good surf shop, we had to gather the best material from the different surf shops. As we explored the world, we realized that there are many surf brands that are committed to surfer fashion.
Furthermore, we discovered that the big surf brands always had the same clothes. All the surf shirts were the same, cut from the same pattern. The same thing happened with surf sweatshirts. The prices are high, which is fine, but as a big brand you are not offering me anything differentiating beyond your brand name.
The small surf shops had the same level of product quality, the prices were similar or even lower and the production was much more sustainable. The decision was clear, we had to include a clothing section in the valley.
There is no Surf Shop without Surf Accessories
And as you can imagine, to complete the surf shop we had to create the accessories section to improve your surfing .
I still remember the first surf accessory I bought in a surf shop. It was in Oceanside, San Diego. It was also the first time I acted like a real kook and fucked a guy, but that's another story.
The first accessory I bought were car racks, I paid $50. Do you know the best? 12 years later I still have them and still use them.
With this I want to tell you that fortunately there are more and more surf accessories that make our lives easier and investing in them is essential, as much as buying a good surfboard.
The final touch for the best Surf Shop
As you might be imagining, the final touch to being the best surf shop is having a brand mission, which we summarize in Shape Your Ride .
With this we want to tell you that you must choose your own path, shape it. We want you to have the freedom to choose where you buy your surf products, to have a thousand surf shops within reach, so that you can freely decide which independent brand or local shaper you buy the products from.
At The Surf Valley we look for that, that you know and have the possibility to choose.
Shape Your Ride
