Down The Line Surf Co Ltd

Shop Name: Down the Line Surf Co Ltd

Location: Hayle, Cornwall

Age of Shop (years trading): 20 years

Brands Stocked: Patgonia, Ripcurl, O’Neill, Xcel, Billabong, Zion, Alder for wetsuits, Patagonia, Deus, Rhythm, Hurley, Quiksilver, Element, Vans, Brixton – Mens clothing, Roxy, Patagonia, Vans, Animal – Ladies clothing, Channel Islands Surfboards, DHD, JS, Firewire, Christensen, McCoy, McTavish, Bing, Ryan Lovelace, Pukas, FCD – Surfboards, Vans, Patagonia, Roxy, Reef – footwear

Website/Social media platform: www.downthelinesurf.co.uk  Facebook  Instagram  Twitter

Down the Line Surf Co Ltd is a Cornish based shop that sells a huge range of surfboards along with many other brands. They ship to Europe and even Japan.

How do you use social media to you advantage to promote your store?

We use the Down the Line facebook page to keep our customers up to date with new stock arriving in the shop and when new surfboard shipments are due for delivery

What particular product has been the best seller? What’s working and what isn’t?

We specialize in selling surfboards, which we ship all over the UK and Europe although we have also sent boards to Japan and the USA. Surf apparel has been the hardest product to sell. We have seen a definite shift away from the more familiar and corporate surf brandswith people searching out core or niche brands

What is your best selling accessory category?

All surf related accessories sell well for us…fins, leashes, wax, boardbags, tail pads

What percentage of your sales are from online business (from your website) compared to your in-store sales?

90% shop – 10% on-line

What are the benefits of having a physical shop over simply having an online store?

Having personal interaction with customers, built up over a number of years, allows us to establish a rapport which enables us to provide the equipment that is right for them, with the service they expect and the aftercare they deserve.

What makes your store different and in what ways does your store excel beyond your competition?

We can offer customers a tremendous range of stock making sure that all their needs are catered for within the budget they have. Our advice is from shop staff who have years of surfing experience and still want to get in the water as often as possible.

What trends do you see upcoming?

A definite shift away from the major labels,less emphasis on the competitive aspects of surfing with a return to the cool or core essence of the sport.

What kind of advice can you give other independent retailers who are trying to compete against the big megastores?

Concentrate on your strengths, keep your passion alive and giving stuff away is NOT a sale.

Which up and coming brands do you hope to stock in the future?

Over the last six months we have started stocking Raen optics, Deus, Stance and Brixton and expect to add similar labels in the future.

What are you doing to pull people into your store?

We strive to offer a friendly, positive and, competitive shopping experience.

What have been the best three selling categories for you in the last 12 months?

Patagonia clothing, Channel Islands Surfboards and O’Neill Wetsuits

 Please tell us of any upcoming initiatives your shop has planned? (events, signings, re-vamps etc…)

We have a few demo days coming up in conjunction with Firewire Surfboards, O’Neill Wetsuits and Patagonia Wetsuits – So you will be able to try before you buy.