Summer 2026 brought healthy sales for many surf specialty retailers. Owners and partners from Proof Lab in Mill Valley, California, Surfside Sports in Costa Mesa, California, Island Water Sports in South Florida, Hansen’s in Encinitas, California, and Curl in Anaheim, California, spoke with Shop Eat Surf Outdoor about how the season played out, describing sales that ranged from flat to up compared to last year.
Warm weather, product resets and new categories helped offset broader concerns about inflation and the economy.
Across the board, retailers pointed to a mix of established core brands and newer or reintroduced labels driving sales, even as a few categories struggled.
Will Hutchinson, Partner, Proof Lab, Mill Valley, California
How did sales this summer compare to last summer? Up, down, flat, and any sense of why?
Will Hutchinson:Â Overall we were flat, but that was actually a win for us because this spring we closed a 1,500 square foot dedicated skate store, then did a reorg of our main shop to incorporate that business in. We added a mini ramp with free lessons, an expanded shoe department and bumped up our skate hardgoods. We basically made a real skate shop inside our main surf shop, and it’s been working well.
We also updated a bunch of our dedicated branded sections, adding ones for Quiksilver, Rusty, Former, Billabong, Rip Curl and Bouquet. We revamped sections for Katin, Roark, RVCA, Rhythm, Florence, O’Neill, Levi’s and Volcom. It was a long overdue update that has helped with sales.
What products, categories, or brands really resonated with your customers this summer?
Will Hutchinson:Â Surf is trendy for the first time in who knows how long, like kids buying sandals and boardshorts for back to school, which sort of feels like a random lucky gift to be honest. But it’s also great to have kids think surf is cool again, because hey, it is cool. And it’s nice that we can lean into what we love and have already been doing, instead of having to worry about chasing some other trend that maybe isn’t related to core surf.
The skate hardgoods update mentioned above also worked. Skate is down, and we still sell less in total than when we had two doors selling skate, but skate is not dead. The slightly downsized zone we have now feels great and appropriately sized for our area and customers.
Three specific hot brands: Rainbow, Quiksilver and Rusty. Y2K surf apparel in general is up, including Billabong, Rip Curl and O’Neill, but it’s still a minority of total surf clothing sales. Katin became our No. 1 men’s surf brand this summer. Patagonia is still our No. 1 clothing brand overall.
Billabong is No. 1 women’s surf brand, with other top staples being Roxy, Rip Curl, and Rhythm
How do you feel your customer is holding up given inflation, gas prices, and the overall economic squeeze? Are you seeing them pull back, trade down, or has it not really changed their buying?
Will Hutchinson:Â Can’t really tell on these complicated macro issues. Hasn’t changed our buying really.
Did you try anything new this summer, whether that’s a brand, a category, a marketing program, or an event? Anything you’re excited about heading into next year?
Will Hutchinson:Â More store updates, including a rebuild of our surfboard and wetsuit departments. We’re bringing in Arc’teryx this fall. We also have lots of events in the fall, like we usually do with our good weather, about one a week for the next two months, including a surf contest, surf films and nonprofit nights.
What was the most disappointing trend or letdown of the summer for you?
Will Hutchinson:Â The rise of AI making the Bay Area unaffordable.
What’s the biggest change you’re planning or expecting for next summer?
Will Hutchinson:Â Hope for more of the same, basically. Keep refreshing the stores and finding ways to grow with our best vendors, and bring in a few new ones where we can.
Joe Edukas, Partner, Surfside Sports, Costa Mesa, California
How did sales this summer compare to last summer? Up, down, flat, and any sense of why?
Joe Edukas:Â Summer was good. Sales were healthy and we tracked a bit up over last year. This year summer showed up early, stayed hot, the water was warm and we had waves. This all attributes to good summer sales.
What products, categories, or brands really resonated with your customers this summer?
Joe Edukas:Â Boardshorts and sandals were the driving force for sales this summer, as they should be. Rainbow continues to crush, and Olukai has had some momentum with younger consumers wanting nicer sandals.
Billabong boardshorts were a huge hit this summer, starting with the drop of the AI boardshorts in spring. Longer ’90s style boardshorts from all brands have been on trend and doing great, but we still sell 19- to 20-inch boardies very well. We also sold a ton of body boards.
How do you feel your customer is holding up given inflation, gas prices, and the overall economic squeeze? Are you seeing them pull back, trade down, or has it not really changed their buying?
Joe Edukas:Â You hear people talking all the time about how expensive everything is. We are in a bit of a bubble and it hasn’t changed anything too drastically for us yet, but we are still being cautious with our buys.
Did you try anything new this summer, whether that’s a brand, a category, a marketing program, or an event? Anything you’re excited about heading into next year?
Joe Edukas:Â We recently brought Florence back into our product mix and it has been doing very well.
What was the most disappointing trend or letdown of the summer for you?
Joe Edukas:Â The biggest letdown this year was not being able to get Havaianas, since they changed their distribution in the U.S. It has been a struggle through the transition.
What’s the biggest change you’re planning or expecting for next summer?
Joe Edukas:Â No big changes as of yet going into next year. Just looking forward to a good snow year and getting through the holidays.
Cheyne Cottrell, Partner, Island Water Sports, four locations in South Florida
How did sales this summer compare to last summer? Up, down, flat, and any sense of why?
Cheyne Cottrell:Â In store was up. Online was tough. Sales evened out to be flat overall.
What products, categories, or brands really resonated with your customers this summer?
Cheyne Cottrell:Â Hardgoods, especially HaydenShapes, especially the new Dark Noise and Nova models, considering how flat of a summer we’ve had (waves).
Apparel was strong. For a while we ignored the California trends because East Coast trends seemed to be moving faster and were more prominent, but baggy jean shorts and long boardshorts are back, there’s no denying it. Also, our destination IWS gear is continuing to grow.
How do you feel your customer is holding up given inflation, gas prices, and the overall economic squeeze? Are you seeing them pull back, trade down, or has it not really changed their buying?
Cheyne Cottrell:Â They’re holding up. If the product is good and unique to surf shops, they’re not holding back at all.
Did you try anything new this summer, whether that’s a brand, a category, a marketing program, or an event? Anything you’re excited about heading into next year?
Cheyne Cottrell:Â We kicked off a partnership with Hollywood Records and Disney Music Group around Almost Monday, with in-store giveaways across our locations, signage and the album in our overhead music. Their record dropped last week, so the timing worked out well.
It was great to have the Quiksilver tour, Kolohe Andino and Steko with Fudo, and John John Florence out for their event tours. We have some more coming, but those really were good for the surf community over here. It’s been a while, and it’s bringing back the excitement.
What was the most disappointing trend or letdown of the summer for you?
Cheyne Cottrell:Â The channel specific product trend. Brands chasing Amazon, Costco and other mass channels at the expense of specialty retailers. It’s not the same product, and you and I can see that, but the person shopping at Marshalls doesn’t.
Josh Hansen, Partner, Hansen Surfboards, Encinitas, California
How did sales this summer compare to last summer? Up, down, flat, and any sense of why?
Josh Hansen: We put together a bunch of positive comps this spring and summer. The weather has been unusually warm this year, which always helps our business.
I also think the surf channel has gotten back to a healthier balance between supply and demand. We’re actually seeing some scarcity in the marketplace again, which is helping drive both sales and margin. That has been really encouraging.
What products, categories, or brands really resonated with your customers this summer?
Josh Hansen: Men’s and footwear have been very solid. Men’s brands like Katin, Vissla and O’Neill continue to be strong. We’ve also seen the legacy brands like Quiksilver and Billabong stabilize and grow significantly. Florence and Outerknown are also having nice increases.
Boardshorts are back. That’s been great to see.
In footwear, Rainbow, Olukai and Reef are all on a roll. Overall, most of our categories have worked pretty well this year, so we’ve been happy with the balance of the business.
How do you feel your customer is holding up given inflation, gas prices, and the overall economic squeeze? Are you seeing them pull back, trade down, or has it not really changed their buying?
Josh Hansen: I think they’re holding up pretty well, but they’re definitely more selective. We’re not necessarily seeing customers trade down to cheaper products. If they really like something and see the value in it, they’re still willing to spend money on it.
Overall, the customer seems healthy, but I think they’re being a little more thoughtful about where they spend their money.
Did you try anything new this summer, whether that’s a brand, a category, a marketing program, or an event? Anything you’re excited about heading into next year?
Josh Hansen: We really just stuck to our longtime game plan: provide the best brand and product selection we can and back it up with great customer service.
It’s pretty simple, but after doing this for a long time, we’ve found that it continues to work. We’re always looking for new ideas, but we also don’t want to get away from the things that have made Hansen’s successful.
What was the most disappointing trend or letdown of the summer for you?
Josh Hansen: Honestly, there wasn’t much to be disappointed about. It has been an amazing spring and summer of selling for us.
If anything, it reinforced how important it is to have the right inventory at the right time. When the customer is there and demand is strong, you want to make sure you have the product they are looking for.
What’s the biggest change you’re planning or expecting for next summer?
Josh Hansen: We’ll continue to focus on becoming more efficient with inventory and with our overall business operations.
We’re also going through some leadership transition right now. It’s exciting to see people retire after long and successful careers with the company, and it’s equally exciting to see the next generation step into larger roles with new ideas and energy.
I think that combination of experience, new leadership, and continuing to improve how we operate puts us in a really good position heading into next summer.
Sammy Duvall, Partner, Curl, Downtown Disney, Anaheim, California
How did sales this summer compare to last summer? Up, down, flat, and any sense of why?
Sammy Duvall: Sales are up year over year and very stable week to week. The hard part has been the shift in product mix in early spring and summer with the hot weather. Prebooks weren’t much help, and it took a lot more effort from the buyers and the reps.
What products, categories, or brands really resonated with your customers this summer?
Sammy Duvall:Â Melin has been on fire since last fall. Sales continued up month over month throughout 2026.
Duvin continues to outperform. The new Duvin women’s line did fantastic all spring and summer. Free Movement continued to comp well, as did Z-Supply.
How do you feel your customer is holding up given inflation, gas prices, and the overall economic squeeze? Are you seeing them pull back, trade down, or has it not really changed their buying?
Sammy Duvall:Â I think it’s maybe a bigger issue than we have seen in late summer and fall. In tourism, most families book trips more than a year in advance.
Once locked in they still take their trips regardless, but maybe spend less. That takes a while to filter through. That said, everything in California is so expensive it has to affect locals.
Did you try anything new this summer, whether that’s a brand, a category, a marketing program, or an event? Anything you’re excited about heading into next year?
Sammy Duvall:Â Sandals were in high demand and tanks made a historic comeback. Market conditions forced us to shift deeper into private label and destination products with very good results.
Happy to see O5 brands coming to market with new fresh product. Improvements from Billabong and the most recent Quik line are the best we have seen for quite a while. The industry and retailers really needed that, and it looks like it will continue.
What was the most disappointing trend or letdown of the summer for you?
Sammy Duvall:Â Footwear is a tough but very important category. Trends change rapidly and reacting can take time to change directions. Hoping Vans find their footing going forward. The brand is an industry staple.
Premium eyewear continues to struggle.
What’s the biggest change you’re planning or expecting for next summer?
Sammy Duvall:Â We historically have been pretty good at spotting future trends early. More of that would be great.
