The Farias flagship is located in Ship Bottom, New Jersey, on Long Beach Island
We spent time walking the floor of Farias Surf & Sport with owner Brian Farias during our time on Long Beach Island, New Jersey.
Farias is a high volume account and has a large, good looking flagship store that stays open all year. Farias also has six other stores, including a women’s boutique and a kids’ store.
Farias has been in business since 1969, but really came into its own in 2008 when the store was remodeled and re-envisioned. The Farias family owns all the property where the stores are located.
Like many industry stores, business boomed during the pandemic. The summer of 2020 was the company’s best summer ever. But this summer eclipsed that, Brian said. “Even with the product problems, we’re still selling everything so it’s really good. It’s really positive and healthy.”
Farias is taking advantage of those healthy sales to reinvest in the business with new computers and other improvements. They are also knocking down an old building on property they own across the street to create more parking for the store.
During our visit, Brian shared his philosophy of brand placement, what brands and categories are selling well, and other information about what it’s like to operate a busy core store right now.
One point he made when talking about brands and what is selling: essentially business is so good, whatever the store puts out, sells.
A Room for Like-Minded Brands and Hot Sellers
Off the main floor, there’s a room with a Vans buildout that also includes newer brands such as Dark Seas, Salty Crew and Roark.
Up-and-coming brands are grouped together
Another view into the room with Roark, Salty Crew and others from the main floor
Volcom has a nice section in this area, which it moved into a few years ago. Previously, Volcom had the section now occupied by Vissla.
Farias is a believer in Volcom and the brand is doing well right now and still resonates with customers, Brian said. And “Volcom’s denim program is huge for us,” he said.
The Volcom section
Dark Seas has been killing it for Farias and is really in tune with the East Coast vibe, Brian said.
“It’s not all sunshine and rainbows.” There is also a lot of fisherman in the area, and Dark Seas collaboration with fishing apparel brand Grundens has sold really well. Dark Seas also is great about producing collaboration T-shirts with Farias that sell great. The brand seems to resonate with that young, going out to bars crowd, Brian said.
Retailers tell us Dark Seas produces strong collaborations that really tie into local communities and surf shops. The Port Hole is a local bar on Long Beach Island.
Jetty has deep roots on Long Beach Island and was the No. 1 men’s apparel brand last year because of its connection to customers and because the brand had product when others didn’t. “The brand is synonymous with our area and is part of our DNA,” Brian said. Two-thirds of the old Hurley section at Farias went to Jetty and the brand has a prominent position in the store.
Jetty has prime real estate at Farias
The other third of the old Hurley space went to Vuori. Farias was doing well with Vuori before the pandemic, and then last year the brand really “blew up,” Brian said. “We are still blowing through it,” Brian said. “Thank God we got a restock for fall because we sell it so fast.” Brian gave Vuori a branded section to increase their visibility. “I love it,” he said. “It’s a great addition because it’s different from everything else we carry.”
Farias expanded its Vuori section and put the brand on the wall to increase visibility. The table and racks in foreground are also Vuori.
The Billabong men’s section mostly had older product because Farias had not received the bulk of its fall orders yet when SES was there in mid-September. “I don’t even know what to feel anymore,” he said, because the problems have gone on for so long. “Do I take down the section at some point? They have great product and when I get it, I sell it. I love the brand. I think it’s especially frustrating for us on the East Coast because our selling window is so short.”
The Billabong section at Farias
The good news is shipments have been better from RVCA and Quiksilver, with Quiksilver having the best shipments of the group of late, and those sections looked good.
The Quiksilver section had fall product
RVCA has a large section because Brian tries to make space allocations about who gets big sections based on distribution. RVCA has one of the bigger spaces in the store because it has cleaner distribution on the island.
RVCA has a large section at Farias
Previously, Katin had been in the room with Dark Seas, Roark and Salty Crew. But Farias was selling so much, Brian had to move it to an expanded space. Farias carries a full range of Katin categories and the brand continues to perform. “Look, some of this has already sold through,” he said, motioning to stacks of fall goods. “Katin is taking big chunks of share now.”
Katin just moved to this larger space at Farias because it was selling so well
As we walked around the store, we came to the large Vissla section. It was one of the bigger ones we have seen. “Vissla is one of our main brands now,” Brian said. “They have been great on shipping. We just got some more jackets. They make great product. And we’re the only one on the island that sells them. It really resonates with a surf shop – their Creators & Innovators thing really works.”
The large Vissla section
Overall, Farias customers got introduced to a wider range of brands last year because some of the smaller brands had inventory. Now, the Farias team are noticing those customers are coming back and buying more from those brands.
“People are saying, ‘I love this brand Katin, I love this brand Roark, and they come in and buy another Roark Layover short,’ “ Brian said.
Rip Curl and O’Neill have also performed well and have been pretty good with shipping, he said.
The Rip Curl section is next to Vissla
O’Neill at Farias
Rhythm has also been doing really well at Farias, something we heard from other retailers in Jersey as well.
Given the weather, Farias carries a lot of Patagonia, which is a top seller. “Last year, we couldn’t get product but it’s better now. We do really well with their bags, and jackets, and other stuff. But I won’t get their wetsuits until November. I just got Xcel wetsuits that were supposed to be here in April. It’s that backed up.”
Women’s
Farias Surf & Sport is a family affair. Brian’s nieces Sarah and Ally Jordan work for the company. Their mother, Stacey Farias Jordan, is Brian’s sister and a partner in the business.
The women’s section is nice and light with nice white walls that makes it distinctive from men’s.
Brian’s niece, Sarah Jordan, whose mother is a partner in the business, handles the women’s buying for all of the stores and operates the family-owned women’s shop called Five O Six Surf Boutique.
Sarah walked me through how the women’s business is going at the Farias flagship.
A view into the women’s section
“We had an absolutely crazy season so everything is working essentially,” Sarah said. “But in particular, we have been doing really well with Sisstre. They have great swim and a good price point. And we could get product quickly from them. They don’t have a big line but it worked for us.”
Sisstrevolution sold well this summer – and Farias could get product from the brand
This spring, Sarah moved Rip Curl into the old Hurley section and “we’ve been crushing it with Rip Curl,” Sarah said. “Their line is cohesive, and the colors look really nice on the wall. They are one of the few brands that makes D cups in swim, and that’s been great, they fit really nice. Their swim has been killer.”
Rip Curl moved into the old Hurley Women’s section – the table in the foreground is Vuori
“Roxy is always one of our top brands. People come in and recognize the brand.”
Roxy at Farias
“O’Neill is definitely one of our top brands, too. Two years ago we gave them this space which is front and center. They are always a good partner and our rep, Abby, has helped us out and always supported us. It was doing well so we gave them the big section.”
O’Neill Women’s is front and center in the store
“Volume wise, Roxy, O’Neill and Rip Curl are neck and neck. Billabong used to be, but it’s been impossible to get product. It’s been crazy this year. Roxy and RVCA have had some delays but it hasn’t been as bad. I’ve been trying to work with O’Neill and Rip Curl, and Volcom, too. They are independent and I can get product from them.”
Billabong Women’s
“We crush it with Vuori. People are now recognizing the brand – they know the quality, they know it from Vuori’s social media advertising. The quality is really unmatched.”
“Another swim brand that works, really, really well for us is IMSY out of Rhode Island. I literally don’t think we have a piece left. It’s good for surfing, it stays in place. A mom in her 30s who is still fit – this is a great option for her. They still want to look cute but not have everything hang out. The woman who started it is a surfer and from the East Coast and we push that story hard.”
“A brand we are trying to make room for in this store is Carve Designs, which we sell in our boutique. The swim sells really, really well – it’s for women, not juniors. People buy it at the boutique, and then they come back asking for it.”
Social media advertising is helping drive sales of Sand Cloud towels and blankets
“When it comes to accessories, this summer we crushed it with Sand Cloud towels. They do a lot of Instagram advertising so that younger customer recognizes the brand when they come in. They also donate a portion of their revenue to help marine life and that younger crowd likes that, too.”
“We sell a lot of private label hats, a lot of Hemlock hats. We sell a ton of Surf’s Up Candles.”
“In footwear, we crush it with Vans, that’s mostly what we carry. We committed to more styles this year and that really worked.”
Farias carries a nice selection of Vans shoes for women
Wetsuits and Surfboards
Boards and wetsuits are on the second level of the store
Wetsuits are very backed up and Farias just received some spring tops that were supposed to arrive in April and May. “But we’ll take it. We need everything we can get,” Brian said.
Overall, usually O’Neill or Xcel are the top brands but Farias sells a lot of Rip Curl and Vissla, too. He said there is not one brand that is super far ahead.
Farias carries a lot of wetsuits – this is a small sample
However, in surfboards, Lost is definitely No. 1. Bing longboards are also really popular.
Amazingly, some surfboards sell before they hit the rack, Brian said. “People will say, ‘What do you have coming in? I’ll take it.’ ”
A partial view of the board room
Brian said because Farias pay its bills, he sometimes gets the opportunity to snap up boards if other retailers don’t. “Last year, I would get calls saying, ‘I have six longboards available because another retailer did not pay.” That’s like a $10,000 order. I’d be like, “Yes!” and boom, we’d get them. Having those relationships really helped us.”
Brian said one of the best thing to come out of the tight supply of boards during the pandemic: “People aren’t haggling about prices anymore.”
Another view of the board room
Footwear
Brian tries to keep it simple on the footwear side and focuses mostly on Vans, Reef, Olukai, Rainbow and Sanuk. Getting product from Reef has been challenging, he said, and we noticed empty pegs in their section.
Farias carries a lot of Olukai
The Reef section
But mostly, footwear is all about Vans for both men and women. “The Vans wall does great,” he said. Olukai closed toe shoes are also a standout.
Farias also sells a lot of Xtra Tuf deck boots for fishing and rainy conditions.
Overall, one thing SES noticed in New Jersey: Vans has obviously made a big commitment to the important stores. The brand has high-impact buildouts in many key accounts.
The Vans buildout – we saw a lot of nice Vans sections in New Jersey
Eyewear
Probably the best sell through comes from RAEN, Brian said. Otis has also made a big push. Oakley is always strong as are Costa and Maui Jim.
I-SEA has really taken over and started to dominate the rack space, he said.
A partial view of the eyewear section
The exterior of the flagship Farias store
