Shop Profile: Yakwax, Guernsey, Surf
YAKWAX, GUERNSEY, WWW.YAKWAX.COM
Age of Shop (years trading):
10 years
Brands Stocked:
Billabong, DC, DGK, Diamond Supply Co, DVS, Electric, Emerica, Fallen, Famous Stars and Straps, FCS, FMS Footwear, Girl, Glassy Sunhaters, Gorilla Grip, Kr3w, Lakai, Matix, Rebel 8, Rogue Status, Supra, Volcom, Von Zipper, Xcel
What makes your store different and in what ways does your store excel beyond your competition?
We are not just focussed around a certain genre. We are passionate about what we do and inspired by different things in life, not just board sports but musically and artistically, which provides a good base when it comes to selecting the brands and styles we choose to stock.
We are all avid surfers, skaters and snowboarders which is something no other shop locally can boast about. This enables us to provide a wealth of knowledge and advice to customers that can’t be found elsewhere in Guernsey. No matter what is thrown at us, we are always able to offer quality advice and service.
What percentage of your sales are from online business compared to your in-store sales?
Approx. 75% in store, 25% online
What are the benefits of having a physical shop over simply having an online store?
The benefit with having a physical shop is you can get that instant connection with the customer to find out exactly what it is they are after or would be best suited to them. It’s much harder to communicate in great depth when it is done over the phone or via email. With the shop it’s very much a hands on approach where the customer can feel and try on styles and sizes of garments before they buy to get that perfect fit whereas online it is sometimes a bit of a gamble.
How’s the local market in Guernsey these days?
I think the local market is like many places currently, very up and down. It’s not the best time ever to be involved in the retail sector, people are being a bit more cautious with their hard earned pennies. Also, with this year in particular, the weather has been all over the place. We had a very dry mild winter and a very wet cold spring and summer. Its been really strange and hard to cope with sometimes. When we do get the nice sunny days things seem to return to normal.
What trends do you see upcoming in surf/skate?
Skate wise, the cup-sole in shoes is steadily making a comeback, with some brands providing really good new flexible yet protective soles. The whole fibrelam thing seems to be taking off a bit more in skate now, the P2 boards and Pop Secret Decks have been selling well for us.
Surf wise, boards have been getting smaller, wider, flatter yet still remaining relatively thin, this is because refined wide points and rockers are allowing small wave boards to ride in a much more similar way to your normal short board giving you extreme high performance plus the ability to catch many more waves. We have been seeing some amazing shapes come through the shop from Ryan Herve at Nutz Surfboards, perfect for the small weak waves that we get in Guernsey.
With wetsuits, Xcel continue to push the limits in wetsuit design and their Infiniti Comp series wetsuits have been a great hit this summer. Insane flexibility and extreme warmth allow you to maximise your sessions.
What items are you most stoked on in upcoming lines and why?
We recently took on Supra Footwear and Kr3w clothing which has been strong for us so far. Xcel also continue to supply top quality wetsuits season in and out which have been a main point in our sales.
