Charlie Fox outside Maine Surfers Union. photo/Tom Major
“This is a really big deal for us, but it’s also a big deal for them,” said Charlie Fox, owner of Maine Surfers Union on Free Street in Portlamd. Fox was speaking of his recent alliance with Finisterre, a British-based surfing gear company.
A deal between a manufacturer and a retailer in not news, but Fox, who’s been selling surfboards, wetsuits and related products in Portland for 11 years, explained why Finisterre’s model is rare in the surf world. “We’ve worked with a lot of brands over the years — Rip Curl, O’Neill, Xcel, and Quiksilver. All they want to do is put their product in a store, and there’s no support after that.”
Fox said most surfing outfitters have ramped up the pressure on retailers to move product, but meanwhile, those same manufacturers undercut brick-and-mortar shops by marketing directly to their customers online. Shop owners and staff build up their brand recognition, but the companies don’t reciprocate with marketing support.
“It’s been this model for a while,” said Fox, “and then Finisterre came along and said, ‘How can we help you?’”
Finisterre’s U.S. CEO flew in and spent a week in Portland to arrange the contract with Maine Surfers Union, then his company funded the renovation of Fox’s store.
“You would never have that from another company,” Fox said. “I talk almost every other day with the U.S. CEO and the head of marketing for North America about events that we are planning to do and ideas that they have up on their social media.”
Finisterre is a certified B Corporation, meaning it’s met rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. Other B Corps Mainers likely know of include Allagash Brewing, Bristol Seafood, ReVision Energy, Wicked Joe, and Luke’s Lobster. Finisterre’s impact reports, available on the company’s website, detail its environmental, social and philanthropic commitments.
“They do all Yulex wetsuits,” said Fox, citing one example. “Yulex is not a new thing in the surf world. Patagonia introduced it about a decade ago. But it’s pretty cool because it’s all plant-based, so there’s no petroleum-based neoprene.”
Fox said he admires Finisterre’s values and feels Maine Surfers Union shares them. “We’ve aligned our ethics and everything that we’ve done over the past eleven years we’ve been in business with what a B Corp is,” he said. “Trying to be environmentally friendly and to sell people products that we’re comfortable selling.”
Another example: “All our surfboards are hand-shaped, made in the U.S. So we support the shapers themselves. We buy directly from them,” Fox said. “Lots of surf shops around the country sell mass-production boards. … Our margins on our boards are a lot less, even though the boards cost more.”
Maine Surfers Union’s head shaper, Nick Aleandro, demonstrated how he hand-glasses boards at the shop’s soft reopening last month. “He uses all bio-based resin, all plant-based resin, so it’s not toxic,” Fox said. “And we’re using the same materials in these boards that were used back in the Sixties, so the boards last a lot longer.
“The thing is, if you buy a board, we want you to be able to pass it on to your child,” he continued. “We don’t want a board that’s going to fall apart within a year. That’s a problem with a lot of the mass-production boards out there. Some of them will say that they’re environmentally friendly and all, but they only last a year to a few years. And then they end up in a landfill.”
Although Maine Surfers Union now has a formal alliance with an international corporation, Fox’s support for local companies continues. “We try to work with as many local people” as possible, he said. “I really enjoy [using the shop as] a stepping stone. … I want to make sure if you’re a small brand, and you have something that is ethically made and quality-made, you can put it in here and I’ll try to push your product and help you grow your business.”
Send local sports tips to Tom Major at leagueofbollards@gmail.com.
