RETAIL AND RESTAURANTS

Something New Under the Sun: Summer is here and the time is right for pitching that beach umbrella in the sand . . . if only the darn thing would stay put when the wind starts to blow.

Beach-goers can take heart. Costa Mesa resident William H. Ward Jr. is rushing to the rescue with the “Groundhog Sandscrew,” a device that attaches to the bottom of beach umbrellas and makes it easier to keep them anchored.

Ward, 55, is a computer and electronics specialist who always “wanted a product of my own. This is just something I wanted to do. You might say I’ve been screwing things up and now I’m screwing them down.”

The Groundhog Sandscrew is being sold through the Long’s Drugstore and Fedco chains. Stores are selling the items for $5.97 and up, said Ward, who hopes to eventually license the product to umbrella manufacturers. Ward’s research suggests that there are 10 million beach umbrellas in the nation, which translates into lots of potential sales.