Making Waves and a Whole Lot More

In the heart of San Marcos, they’re putting out safes to the tune of $300,000 a month. In a Solana Beach industrial park, they’re crafting menageries of beaded belts inspired by the animal kingdom. In an Oceanside plant, they’re cranking out enough party hats to outfit a Times Square New Year’s Eve.

And you thought North County only made waves.

According to industry analysts, nearly 1,300 manufacturers are settled into the county’s northerly ZIP codes.

Chances are that one of your not-too-distant neighbors is mass-producing something, be it stoplights or salsa. You might not have noticed. Most local manufacturing holds a low profile, with nearly half of all firms employing five people or fewer.

So while the region might not be the site of the next Industrial Revolution, its factories are still responsible for putting out a prodigious assortment of goods.

Here’s a baker’s dozen of North County’s Own, from grave to cradle. Literally.

WHITED CEMETERY SERVICE

116 N. Hale Ave., Escondido, 745-3422.

If you would like to buy North County to the bitter end, you should know that the people at Whited have been pouring concrete cemetery vaults in Escondido for more than 20 years. Vaults are lowered into a grave before a casket, providing an additional barrier between the soil and the casket’s contents.

Al Sannipoli, who also makes concrete tanks for underground gas storage, bought the business from its originators in 1970.

According to Sannipoli’s son and secretary-treasurer, Dale, the gas tank operation is the larger of the two, but on any given day the yard is filled with “a sea of vaults, 1,000 or more.”

On average, Whited’s 40 employees pour 100 units a day, which are then shipped to funeral industry representatives in San Diego, Riverside, Orange and San Bernardino counties. Apparently, it’s a growth industry for everyone but the customers.

“We’re in, I’d say, the top three vault producers in the U.S.,” Dale said.

Whited’s vaults are available through most mortuaries, where they run anywhere from $300 to

$3,000, depending on materials and workmanship.

STUPID HATS

562 Airport Road, Oceanside, 722-0144 Forget the subtle. A packaging company has branched out and gone directly to the ridiculous.

Stupid Hats are foam-constructed, polyethylene headgear and masks in the shapes of biplanes, lobsters, grasshoppers, pigs, triceratops, unicorns and assorted figments of inventor Bob Fouke’s imagination. Made of the same lightweight, multicolored foam as bodyboards, they lend themselves to fantastic proportions.

“Bob comes up with all different courageous and outrageous things,” said Stupid Hats manager Paul Tyner. “They’re really big in any kind of party situation.”

Since fun knows no boundaries, Stupid Hats products go all over the world. And Los Angeles, too.

“We sent a couple thousand (USC-style) Trojan hats up for some college event,” Tyner said. “But right here’s the biggest demand, especially around Halloween. Then we really start pumping them out.”

Even then, however, the employees rarely number more than 10.

“We’re small but mighty,” Tyner said.

Found locally in drug and discount stores and gift shops, the hats and masks retail for anywhere between $8 and $20, depending on the intricacy of the design.

CALLAWAY GOLF

2345 Camino Vida Roble, Carlsbad, 931-1771.

It’s called “Big Bertha.” It’s an oversized, very forgiving golf club. The President of the United States has it, and he loves it.

“I never got off the tee so well in my life,” George Bush said on TV after crushing one with a Big Bertha from Callaway Golf.

With unsolicited endorsements like that, it’s little wonder Ely Callaway’s latest venture logged $21 million in sales in 1990. He’s expecting to double those figures in 1991. That would put the firm in the world’s top 10 golf manufacturers. Callaway, 72, made his first fortune in textiles; his second in wine (Callaway Vineyards in Temecula, which he sold for $14 million to Hiram Walker & Sons in 1981). Having become familiar with the area, he began his golf venture in Carlsbad in 1983 for one overriding reason.

“The weather,” he said, without hesitation.

It began as a small specialty outfit, making steel-cored, wood-shafted “Hickory Sticks” for a well-moneyed minority. Today, Callaway has expanded to employ 250 in the manufacture of several lines: steel, graphite shafts, metal woods, irons and wood wedges and putters. Retail prices for full sets vary according to materials and store, but averages range from $769 to $1,500--more for the “Big Bertha.”

The clubs are available through select golf shops in North County.

CHACHIES

3235 Production Ave., Oceanside, 757-2622

When Bob and Donna Stuck were living in Phoenix, they were strangers to the fresh, tangy salsa that graces many Southern California tables.

“We thought all salsa came from a jar,” Bob said. Now, as president of Chachies, he knows better.

Armed with a top-secret recipe that came with the business they bought in 1988, the Stucks are shipping fresh, refrigerated salsa to grocery chains nationwide.

Bob doesn’t like to get too specific (the salsa competition is keen), but it’s safe to say that Chachies’ 35 employees are concocting enough spicy stuff to fill thousands of 16-ounce containers a day. The plant is in Oceanside because that’s where it was founded in 1984.

“It happened to be here, and this is where we wanted to live and have a business,” Stuck said. That, and maybe the tomatoes.

“Our local tomatoes are very good,” Bob said, granting us at least one of the secret ingredients.

Chachies is available at most supermarkets. The retail price averages about $2.29 per 16-ounce tub.

ANTHONY ENTERPRISES INC.

28425 Cole Grade Road, Valley Center, 749-1332.

How a specialty neckwear manufacturer came to a community best known for citrus and avocados has to do with luck and Martin Anthon’s poor sense of direction. Five years ago, Anthony, a resident of Chicago, visited friends in Rancho Bernardo. Afterward, he was trying to get to San Diego but he headed the wrong way--through Escondido and up the Valley Center grade.

“I went into a Realtor’s to ask where I was,” he said. “Forty-eight hours later, I was the owner of a house in Valley Center.”

Anthony had already established a thriving, made-to-order scarf and tie operation over the previous 12 years, so he moved it west to a former citrus packing plant he bought near his new home.

His 17 employees annually produce tens of thousands of items for such diverse outfitters as Amtrak, Disneyland and USAir, as well as promotional neckwear for corporations and giveaways for racetracks and special events.

Using fabrics from the world over, their work has even found its way to Brunei, where the Sultan’s palace guard wears Anthony ties of embroidered gold bullion.

The company just finished an order for the opening of the Ronald Reagan Library, Anthony said. “We did a beautiful gold seal on silk ties and red silk scarfs.”

The ties were for each of the five presidents who attended--Reagan, Bush, Carter, Ford and Nixon. Similar ties and scarfs also will be sold at the library’s retail center.

Anthony neckwear is available directly from the manufacturer in lots of 50 units or more. Prices begin at about $10 an item. Customers have a hand in choosing logos, colors and fabrics.

McCAIN TRAFFIC SUPPLY

2575 Pioneer Ave., Vista, 727-8100.

“Most people are surprised when they find out we’re here,” said Jana Harris, an executive assistant with McCain Traffic Supply. Indeed, most North County residents have no idea that one of only six traffic-signal manufacturers in the United States is located in a Vista industrial park.

The McCain family entered the traffic business in 1972, installing traffic signals and street lights. After seeing a need for quality equipment, however, they left the contracting business in 1987 and began building it themselves. They chose Vista for its central location in a growing area.

The staff averages 75 field experts, engineers, sales people, assemblers and administrative employees, who are responsible for putting out some 50 pedestrian crossing signals and 300 three-section (red, yellow and green) vehicle signals each day.

Dealing with city, county and state agencies nationwide, McCain’s annual sales volume is $14 million, according to company president Jeff McCain. The company is working to land international contracts as well, and is doubling its facility’s square-footage.

On-site is a machine and tool-making shop, a powder coating paint system, an assembly line and a sheet metal facility to produce backplates, visors and other metal parts.

Last year, McCain’s research and design group formulated traffic signals of glass-reinforced polycarbonate, which is expected to decrease maintenance and increase durability.

The cost of signals varies with design and components, but an average price is about $250. EAGLE CREEK PRODUCTS

1740 La Costa Meadows Dr., San Marcos, 471-7600.

There’s a new breed of traveler out there--rugged, adventurous and practical. It’s for him-her that Eagle Creek designs an array of nylon-sewn travel gear ranging from wallet-sized organizers to briefcases to soft-sided luggage.

Founded 16 years ago in Solana Beach, the company today has 70 employees in an expanded San Marcos location, and 170 more at a sewing facility in Ensenada. Steve Barker, the company’s founder and president, is a North County resident, as were other key individuals at Eagle Creek’s inception.

“The company grew up in our own back yard and stayed here,” said Ricky Schlesinger, vice president of sales and marketing.

Their products have won a loyal following at more than 1,400 stores in the United States, as well as international markets in Europe, Japan and Australia.

Retail prices average from $8 for a passport carrier to $250 for a convertible travel pack that can quickly go from a backpack to a more traditional suitcase. The Eagle Creek line is available at a number of outdoor specialty stores, luggage shops and through mail order.

MARY B FASHION ACCESSORIES

722 Genevieve St., C, Solana Beach, 481-8012.

It’s been 13 years since Mary Hetz left the employ of a Los Angeles jewelry company and struck out on her own in her adopted hometown of Solana Beach. She began in her garage with $50 capital and a superior bead-stringing method. Today, her firm employs 10 people who craft thousands of pieces of hand-beaded and silver jewelry and accessories each year.

“It was the intricacy and beautiful colors of the beads that attracted me from the beginning,” she said. “They’re like tiny, sparkling jewels.”

Among her most striking (and pricey) designs are the hand-beaded belts that have come to be her trademark--fully beaded belts in the shapes and colors of snakes, parrots, house cats and Dalmatians. The line also includes earrings, collars, bracelets, pins, and hair clips, all of which are popular with the celebrity-socialite set. The demand keeps a pair of in-house assemblers, and several outside beaders working full-time.

Two years ago, a lifelong interest in sterling silver jewelry inspired Hetz to create her own line of cast-metal pins, pendants and earrings.

Available at the Rare Earth Boutique in Del Mar and the Golden Door Resort in San Marcos, the jewelry retails from between $20 and $150 for the silver items and $50 and $150 for the small beaded items. The hand-beaded animal belts sell for $500 to $700.

CARVIN MANUFACTURING CORP.

1155 Industrial Ave., Escondido, 747-1710.

Escondido a musical mecca? You bet your bottom fret.

Marty Friedman of Metallics, Craig Chaquico of Jefferson Starship and up-and-coming lady rocker Leah Aldridge are among the guitarists who have a Carvin electric six-string in their musical quiver.

Carvin’s administrative and manufacturing headquarters have been here since 1968, when the firm moved from Covina.

“The environment, the room to expand was what brought us here,” said Carson Kiesel, Carvin’s president. And here they have stayed, employing an average of 70 people in the production of a full line of electric guitars, amplifiers, public address systems and soundboards.

While the corporation maintains two retail stores in Los Angeles and a factory showroom, most of their sales come from a direct mail catalogue of the full product line. In the music business, reputation is as important as location, and Carvin would seem to have the former in spades. The 1992 catalogue features the legendary Chet Atkins and his endorsement of Carvin’s amps, as well as thumbs up for its bass guitars from such notable artists as Stanley Clarke, Bunny Brunel and Reggie Hamilton.

Carvin remains a family operation, however. The founder and chief operating officer is Lowell Kiesel, Carson’s father. And three of Carson’s brothers also are in the business.

The guitars, which begin at $583, are sold locally through direct mail or the Escondido showroom. Customers can call for a catalogue or stop by.

LINDEN SURFBOARDS

1027 S. Cleveland St., Oceanside, 722-8956.

Imagine a surfboard company that makes just surfboards. No neon sunglasses. No pink rubber shoes. Just 2,000 or so surfboards and some basic accessories every year.

“I hate to overuse the term, but we’re here for the ‘hard-core’ surfer,” said Mike Martin, Linden Surfboards’ sales manager.

Owner Gary Linden grew up surfing local waters and entered the surfboard business at 17. In his 20s, Linden apprenticed himself to legendary Southern California shaper (builder and designer) Dick Brewer, whose company he bought in 1978 and made his own.

Today, Linden boards are sold everywhere from Oceanside’s Hill Street to Israel, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Stockholm, where the newest dealer just opened shop.

“We have an international market, so we have a year-round demand,” said Martin, speaking for his boss, who was in Brazil on business. “We also sell a lot of boards on the East Coast.”

With 15 employees, the company operates on a shape-to-order basis, whether the call comes from a surfer or a dealer. The boards are available locally through selected surf shops, or by contacting the factory directly.

For any clear board up to 6 feet, 6 inches, the price is $365. Longer boards, various colors, and other options are extra.

ARMOR SAFE CORP.

1435 Grand Ave., San Marcos, 744-4992.

Cash, gold, securities--even trigger mechanisms for cruise missiles--are locked tightly behind the steel walls of Armor Safes.

While living in Pennsylvania, Craig Gilbert was one of the line’s top dealers. He bought the company from its local founders in 1983, changing it from a dealer-based firm to a customer-direct one.

“It was already here, so we stayed,” he said. Today, the company employs about 55 people, from administrative staff and designers to assembly personnel. Safes are made according to client requirements from ordinary and exotic steels that are cut and welded on the premises.

“We go worldwide, all shapes and sizes, from here to China to Abu Dhabi,” Gilbert said. “Our customers are department stores, banks, you name it.”

Armor just entered into a major contract with the U.S. Postal Service to provide safekeeping for the stations’ inventories of stamps and other valuables. The nature of our worried times would seem to be reflected in Armor’s sales--some $300,000 worth each month.

Although they specialize in commercial-quality safes, Armor does make some smaller models suitable for residential use. Prices range from $300 to $10,000, depending on size and materials required.

HOBIE CAT

4925 Oceanside Blvd., Oceanside, 758-9100.

It’s been said that Hobie Alter and his revolutionary catamarans have put more people in the water than all the South’s best Baptist ministers combined.

Since the 14-foot prototypes were launched from Capistrano Beach in 1968, Hobie Cat’s fast, fun and affordable craft have swelled the ranks of sailors by the tens of thousands. Many belong to the International Hobie Class Assn.

“We have the largest sailing organization there is,” said Bonnie Hepburn, publisher of Hobie Hotline, the company’s bimonthly magazine. “There are several hundred very active fleets all over the world.”

From humble beginnings in a Capistrano Beach Quonset hut, Hobie Cat quickly gained a following. Some of its operations were relocated to Oceanside in 1979, and eight years later the entire facility came south. after several name-changes and buy-outs, Hobie Cat returned under its original name in 1989, when longtime Hobie enthusiast Tony Wilson bought the company.

Some 60 people work there today, producing a line that ranges from a $1,595, 9-foot monohull to the Hobie Miracle 20 (foot), which retails for $7,995. The catamarans are available through a number of local dealers.

THE WOOD WORKS

14007 Midland Road, Poway, 748-4363.

You want to start buying North County from Day One? Steve Tibbetts can make you a wooden cradle. He also can make you a couple dozen kaleidoscope holders or some koto stands for your Japanese string orchestra. That’s the beauty of a one-man operation.

A hobbyist for many years, Tibbetts went to work for the wood shop’s former owner, then bought the operation.

“Now I’m looking for a new hobby,” he said. “But I really don’t have time for one.”

Averaging between 10 and 15 larger projects such as custom doors and wood furniture each month, Tibbetts also is a national supplier of tole cutouts, the small wooden patterns used in country decorating.

“I’ll do a thousand pieces a week on tole cutouts,” he said.

His woodcraft, which has brought him clients from as far as Hawaii and British Columbia, retails from several dollars to several thousand, depending on the scope and nature of the project.