CHP Surf and Skate

When did you start your business?

CHP Surf & Skate started in 2000.

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

Yes definitely because we’re the only surf shop within 3 miles from the Palos Verdes area. We’re located right on the PCH as well.

Who is your average buyer?

Our average buyer is surfers & skaters between the ages of 16-25 and their moms. We also get a wide variety of other surfers because “Tak” is basically a living legend around here and knows a lot of the legendary Hawaiian surfers like Larry Bertlemann & Greg Knoll. A lot of people come in for his “words of wisdom.”

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

Yes absolutely. We’re family owned and operated. We want everybody to come in here and feel comfortable while cruising around the shop.

What is the dumbest question that a customer has ever asked?

“Are you guys open??” (while standing in the middle of the store.

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

Nope. Unless you wanna consider the groms.

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

2 weeks after a lady bought a 9’6 soft top for her son she brought it back and it was totally creased. She claimed that her son did nothing out of the ordinary and it just creased. She also said that we guaranteed that it was a durable board. She wanted her money back. We said that there’s no way we can do that because something pretty major must’ve gone down for the board to end up in that shape. She whined so much about it we ended up doing a “glue fix” job on it for her.

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

We support o cal surf & skate crew for sure.

What is your most annoying grom story?

This kid came in once with some sort of mountain “all terrain” board and wanted us to fix it. We told him that we have no idea how to fix this weird ass thing. He started to complain that we couldn’t fix his weird ass thing. After a little while some of our local grom crew came in and started riddling him, showing them their skateboards and saying “this is a skateboard.” The kid with the weird ass mountain board sat there and took a bunch of shit for a while. Even after the local crew was bashing him he still sat in here complaining to us about not being able to fix his weird ass “all terrain” board.

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

Larry Bertlemann, Donovan Frankenreiter, Nat Young.

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

Yes, yes I have. And that’s all I’ll say.

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

I still surf pretty much the same amount. Close to everyday. The owner surfs everyday for sure.

Who is your favorite surfer and why?

Anyone who surfs for the love of it.

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

No that hasn’t happened yet. I wish I could say yes.

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

Yes it happens quite often actually because we have a margarita restaurant right next store. One tourist guy stumbled over here once from the margarita restaurant and bought a bunch of Sanuk sandals saying “wow I’ve never seen them things before.”

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

Our shoplifting policy is we prosecute. One time a guy came in and ran out with a cruiser skateboard. Christina ended up chasing the kid down and got the board back.

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

About a week and a half ago this family came in from the restaurant next store and their 15 year old daughter started to try the indo board out. We do have a sign for the Indo Board that says “try at your own risk.” The girl continued to fiddle around on the board then all of a sudden she was on the floor shrieking and screaming at the top of her lungs. We ran over to see what happened and there was a bone sticking out of her arm. She was in the hospital for 3 days and had to be out of school for 2 weeks. Heavy. We no longer really let anybody test-run the Indo Board anymore.