Today we’d like to introduce you to Randy Strunk.
Hi Randy, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I feel in love with surfing as a kid and before long that’s all my friends and I wanted to do. Everything was surfing, being a surfer, hanging with other’s who surfed, surfing different breaks and different designs, wearing surf clothes. It was fun and expressive back then. I go my 1st board in 7th grade and by high school surfing defined my life. My high school buds are still my best friends and I still surf with some of them! The 70’s were such an adventurous time and the evolution and progress of surfing was unfolding at such a rapid pace. I identified with two designs, the fish which had a wide tail and was fast down the line and the egg which I felt was the most versatile design for a wide variety of surf that California offered. I didn’t have the means to expand beyond that and I just found my niche and then surfing kind of kept moving and all of the sudden the tri-fin shapes hit and boards went really small and It took me a while to find my place. I found the aggressiveness of short boards at odds with my vision of flow and down the line speed. They were at opposite ends of the spectrum. I did end up with a short board or two, but I always liked what I liked better. I did like my eggs with the trifin and later four fin design’s and as time went my fishes went from two to four fins looking for more performance as dimensions tighten up a bit.
Then, the longboarding resurgences started in the mid 80’s and I fell in love with that. I did not longboard as a kid, but the crew I hung with, we were all over it and I felt I had found my place again. It was a great time for surfing and each city had different takes and styles. You could almost pick where a guy was from by his equipment and style. I started a surfer/shaper relationship with Skip Frye and his stoke and talent was a big part of my advancement and just plain fun I was having surfing and longboarding. I just loved surfing my Frye boards!!! Every six months or so I challenged my surfing to adopt, change and advance. And I go to Skip and he was just exploring shapes and where he could put his expression of surfing into a vast variety of designs. I was part of a crew at La Jolla Shores and later Tourmaline and we just had a blast getting on and surfing different boards. Are our surfing just growing and grew. The chapter became taking over Pacific Beach Surf Shop and many trips to Hawaii. Pacific Beach Surf was closing in late 1992 after opening in 1962. It seemed a shame for the shop that was such a part of PB’s history. So as the doors were closing I in just a few days said “I can do this” and signed a lease and went into business with my brother Jeff! We spent about a month on remodeling the place and that gave us time to build a loose game plan and get some inventory and off the races we were. So bumps along the way and in a couple of years Jeff went back to construction, as with two small children he could make way more money working in the shop.
So, I ended up living in my camper for the good part of a year to keep the doors open. It ended up being kind of fun and once word got out the surf community really came through – people just would show up and buy a t-shirt or wetsuit, sometimes a board and tell me I’m doing a good thing! Keep the old shop going!!! Then it all kind of came to together and I never looked back. After seven years I got bounced as the old building got torn down for a Hotel expansion. But by then there were plenty of fun stories and we were reestablished and had a foothold in the beach community. Moved only a half block into a huge 3400 sq ft space and that when I dreamed big and felt really good about our involvement in all aspects of surfing. Hard-goods focused with a great selection of surfboards and some select clothing. Add in art and a stage for music, film and speaking engagements, PB Surf Shop was a one-of-a-kind experience. Our crew was incredible and there was a lot of talent there, both in surfing talent and young surfers who got to spread their wings to help achieve what we wanted. To not be a department store of surfing but something more connecting and lasting.
After 24 plus years and being under funded to really run a store of that size I made the decision to downsize and reinvent ourselves again. We are now like how shops were when I was a kid, small wet and sandy. We have the best location on the beach and now after 28 years we have another run in us. I am so grateful for the talented staff once again! I’ll be 65 in a couple of months and really like how personal a small shop can be. I have a few choice shapers like Hank Warner and Gary Linden, both Hall of Famer’s and couple of current big name shapers like Rusty and Tim Patterson. I still love everything about surfing and even though I have gotten three boards in the last six months, I’m still thinking about what’s next. I’m more balanced now, be married to my beautiful wife Osi for 18 years now. And I love the endurance side of water-sports and am an active outrigger canoes-man and a prone paddler.
My last outrigger race in our 60 and over division we took 2nd place in the Catalina Challenge which is 32 miles from Catalina to Newport Beach. As soon a covid is over we’ll be back at it again! It feels good to be mentoring my young staff and the young surfers who in our surf coaching program. It’s still fun to turn people on to surfing and to be shop that people still identify with. Now the Hawaii part is that I felt like that was always the mecca or the challenge and for about 13, 14 years I would make the trip over and challenge myself. Little by little I gained confidence in surf that was insane. I was just a guy out there but for me it was my challenge to get better find out a few things about myself. I’ve surfing Maui, Oahu, and Kauai and loved them all! Got at least 100 days under my belt over there. So that about catch’s you up to today. It’s still in progress and not over by any stretch!!!!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve made it through it all somehow. There were some rough spots and thought I couldn’t save the business one time but if you just don’t quit and don’t blame others it seems to work out. I did go through an expansion stage and that’s what got me into trouble. I had a bunch of surf schools’ sites from PB to La Jolla to Del Mar and for a couple of summers had 90 or so staff. One day, someone said Randy we think you’re the largest employer in the surf industry in San Diego and I might have been back then. But in the end that didn’t make me happy so I just let it all go!! Now I have one small shop and one surf school site and that works best for me. It’s funny I can make a bigger difference in people’s live being small that being big! How’s that for a pearl of wisdom!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Here’s a fun fact. For 16 years I ran the Aquarius Roll-A-Rena that my parents owned. So between the two iconic San Diego small businesses I have 44 years’ experience!! I guess the fact that as a foundation both businesses had a positive impact on children and teens, plus their families. It goes back to foundation ally both businesses wanted to connect with the communities and be a positive force. Aquarius was the dream surfers’ job as I never had to be before 11am – so I could surf everyday then go to work!!!
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
I think most of us found out what we call our second family we loved so much. Love, friendship, caring about others really cuts though all the crap. The slower and simpler life-stye is better by far. I commute to work a ten mile ride each way on my bike now! Love it! Plus I am such a better cook now – better late than never!!!
Pricing:
- $95.00 for surf lessons
- $35.00 for all-day surfboard and wetsuit rentals
- $300.00 a month for after school surf coaching
- $350 for summer week-long half day surf camp
Contact Info:
- Email: info@pbsurfshop.com
- Website: www.pbsurfshop.com
- Instagram: @pbsurfshop_
- Facebook: @pbsurfshop
