Blue Rocket Business Systems

March stinks it up: as the pallets of winter surf wear start to rack up in the storerooms of various surf stores across WA, the temperature hit 42 degrees.

March recorded the highest temperature since 1920 and every store in the state has literally got racks that you can’t get your hand into full of winter stock. This has not been a fantastic thing for retail although the feedback is that trade has been steady, in spite of the unusually hot weather. Mel from Core Surf Shop in Hillaries reported one of the busiest days that she can ever remember over the Easter Break with record numbers of people coming through the store. “ We started with a 50 per cent off summer sale but we were selling jumpers and sweats as well as boardshorts.”

The annual Margaret River Solomon Masters in the third week of March saw southwest surf shops reap the benefits of increased foot traffic to the area. A number of businesses in the southwest reported record sales on the Saturday of the Easter break as well as solid trade over the time the contest was run.

Still in the southwest Mark and Anthea of Blue Motion Surf Shop in Dunsborough have just purchased the Evolution Surf Shop in Bunbury and Surfscene Margaret River is due to change names to Mainstreet Surf Shop.

New stores: There have been rumours of another City Beach store planned for the Midland area 40 minutes east of the city. This will bring the total number of City Beach stores in the state to five, including the site in the city due to open in the coming months.