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  The new Rip Curl store by Hansen's in Encinitas

Rip Curl recently announced the opening of a new partner retail shop adjacent to Hansen’s in Encinitas, California. Hansen’s won Men’s Retailer of the Year at this year’s SIMA Image awards.

 

I spoke with Josh Hansen about the new shop, how the partnership works and why the retailer chose Rip Curl.

 

Where is the shop, and is it replacing the old Hansen’s Boardroom? 

Josh Hansen: No. There’s a building next door to Hansen’s that we were using as an office space. We took the front 1,450 square feet and turned that into a Rip Curl licensee door, and took the back 1,000 square feet to still use as an office for our web stuff.

 

How does the relationship with Rip Curl work? 

Josh Hansen in front of the main Hansen’s store in Encinitas. Shop-eat-surf file photo.

Josh: The relationship is a licensing deal. We own the store and created the shell. It’s our product, but Rip Curl did all the signage, POP and fixturing so it’s a good partnership. The easiest way to explain it – it’s like an in-store buildout on steroids.

 

Tell me a little bit about the partnership store, what it looks like, and what does it feature inside? 

Josh: Obviously, because we are across the street from Swami’s (famous Encinitas surf break), there’s a big focus on wetsuits and surf related hardgoods. So we have all the latest and greatest in booties, full suits, spring suits and rashguards.

 

We also have a few surfboard labels in the store, including JS Surfboards, which is a new surfboard label for us, but consistent throughout all Rip Curl stores. That’s on the north side of the store, which is about 750 square feet.

 

The other south part of the store is all the Rip Curl apparel. In that section there are boardshorts, T-shirts, walk shorts, hybrid shorts, and a beautiful bikini wall.

 

Rip Curl’s bikini business has been on fire for us, especially with Alana getting so such attention these days. Rip Curl has been our strongest bikini brand this year.

 

Basically, when you walk into the space you will get the true brand experience with Rip Curl. We have the full gamut of their products.

 

Why Rip Curl? 

Josh: A lot of people have been asking me that, and there were some particular reasons why we chose them.

 

First, and most importantly, I felt from a real estate standpoint, we could never give Rip Curl enough space for what they could do, especially since they have won “wetsuit of the year” for the last two or so years. That was one reason.

 

Secondly, Rip Curl’s apparel for men and women is also really strong and under utilized in our store. We didn’t have any more space to grow the brand and those were the main drivers as to why we chose Rip Curl.

 

Then, maybe the intangible piece of the puzzle is that my Dad (Don Hansen, the founder of Hansen’s) and I have always felt that creating a true destination could encompass not only the true family surf shop, but also possibly multiple company stores on the same block.

 

I have had people tell me Torquay in Australia (Rip Curl’s headquarters) has a bunch of company stores and privately owned surf shops and it’s a fantastic destination for people to shop beach lifestyle products.

 

How does Rip Curl perform at Hansen’s? 

Josh: The brand has been very strong. Ever since they made the big management change about six years ago or so, they have had a great business with us. Obviously, their wetsuit business is very strong and it’s a solid brand for sure.