Joe Surf: Quivers made for surfers

I’m sure there haven’t been very many surfers who have taken a trip to Indonesia — Indo — and come home without feeling a sense of inspiration.

The bigger question would be: Inspired to do what?

For Steve Connolly and Roland Verdugo, it was opening their own surf shop. But not just any surf shop. They don’t want to compete with Jack’s, HSS or even Rockin’ Fig. In fact, they really don’t have any competition around here at all.

Connolly and Verdugo opened Quivers four weeks ago, a “surfboard demo club” on Alabama Street in Huntington Beach. What’s a “quiver” you ask?

Straight from urbandictionary.com, a quiver is “a collection of surfboards of different lengths and thicknesses so that the surfer in question can surf any type of wave with ease.”

It was a trip to Indo that prompted Connolly and Verdugo to start Quivers, but it was as much about the airport as the perfect barrel.

“We kept talking about how much plane tickets were with board bag fees and all,” Connolly said. “So Roland kept saying, ‘Man, I wish we could just show up here and have access to a bunch of boards.’ The idea spawned from that, of just being able to have an enormous quiver without having to buy, travel with and move all these boards around.”

Unlike so many surf shops that will rent out used boards on a daily basis, Quivers has an “enormous quiver” of more than 100 boards — currently 112 with more on the way — of all shapes and sizes, most of which haven’t gotten wet yet.

Membership is $99 a month (not including insurance), which works out to roughly $3.33 a day, or less than a mocha as Starbucks. It allows you access to any of the boards for checkout, and you can keep one board for as long as four days. Simply check out a different board when you turn one back in.

“It’s aimed at people that aren’t necessarily beginners but are trying to figure out exactly what board they want to ride,” Connolly said. “Maybe they want to get a little smaller, maybe they’re not sure about a tail shape. We’re a great avenue of ‘try before you buy.’

“So instead of going down to the surf shop and spending 700 bucks and your first wave you’re like, ‘No, that’s not the one,’ we’re an avenue where you can really dial in specifically the shape you’re looking for.”

Surfers also can pick out boards based on the conditions of the day. Big swell coming, find that perfect short board and hit the pier. Waves are small, grab a longboard and head to the cliffs.

Quivers’ quiver does not consist of the old, beat-up boards that have been gathering dust in the garage for years. They are brand new boards ordered directly from 13 different shapers.

“Every board we have is custom ordered for us,” Connolly said. “They have our logo lammed into the board so if you see it out in the water, you know it’s ours.”

Connolly and Verdugo are well aware that what seems like a good idea is nothing more than a good idea unless they can execute a successful business plan.

In the month they’ve been in business, they’ve signed up 14 members and continue to promote themselves any way they can. They’re on social media, of course, and have an ad in Ghetto Juice magazine (that’s where I found them).

Connolly, 28, grew up in Pennsylvania, and surfed regularly off the shores of New Jersey, where his grandparents lived. He moved to Huntington Beach six years ago, and met Verdugo, 34, who is from Anaheim.

The two now are trying to turn their passion for surfing into a way to earn a living.

“We came up with this idea quite a few months ago and got this shop maybe 4 1/2 months ago,” Connolly said. “We did a lot of the remodel ourselves. And then ordering the boards, getting insurance, between myself and my partner was kind of a lot to undertake starting your first business. We didn’t really focus on marketing until we were ready to open, so we’re trying to attack that now.”

Word of mouth works too, and it doesn’t cost anything.

“The first few guys that signed up, they’ve all brought friends in,” Connolly said. “They kept showing up at the beach every day with a different brand new board so their buddies are like, ‘What the heck? How does this work?’”

To check out Quivers’ quiver, go to their shop at 1611 Alabama. Their website is surfboardquivers.com and their phone number is (714) 594-3727.

JOE HAAKENSON is a Huntington Beach-based sports writer and editor. He may be reached at joe@juvecreative.com.