RETAIL : Island Water Sports Opens Retail Outlet in Laguna Niguel

The surf-wear industry started on the Southland’s beaches and swept the rest of the country like a wave. And now it seems to be traveling full circle, with the recent arrival in Laguna Niguel of Island Water Sports, a licensee of a Florida-based apparel chain.

The retailer, which sells such well-known surfwear labels as Stussy, Billabong, Rusty and Rip Curl, is the first West Coast outlet for Deerfield Beach, Fla.-based Island Water Sports. And if the founder of the 11-year-old Florida company has his way, Island Water Sports stores soon will be stretching from Santa Barbara to San Diego.

“People look to the West Coast for what’s happening and for trends,” said Kirk Cottrell, chairman and majority owner of Island Water Sports. “California is necessary for our validity.”

So even though there are now 23 Island Water Sports stores in Florida, Colorado, Georgia and the Canary Islands, Cottrell has big plans--many of them involving California.

After raising $300,000 through a private stock placement last spring, Cottrell formed Island Water Sports Franchise Group. Within the first year, that company hopes to have 25 franchise stores, most of them in Florida, including 15 conversions of existing licensees, said Rick Englert, president of the franchise group.

Cottrell hopes to open 10 stories in California within a year. Over a five-year period, the company hopes to have 50 West Coast stores in California and, perhaps, Arizona, Cottrell said.

Island Water Sports stores range from 1,500 to 4,000 square feet and have sales of about $286 per square foot, company executives said.