By Sean O'Brien
In a move bound to have long-term
repercussions on the domestic surfboard market, Clark Foam Founder Gordon Clark
announced Monday in a faxed letter to shapers that “effective immediately Clark
Foam is ceasing production and sales of surfboard blanks.”
Representatives from Clark Foam were unavailable for comment.
Clark Foam, based in the increasingly upscale town of Laguna Niguel in Orange
County, California, is the undisputed leader in the production of polyurethane
foam blanks, a position it’s held since the mid 1960s. It’s estimated that more
than 80 percent of domestic polyurethane surfboards use blanks from Clark Foam.
Clark’s letter, which opens with the sentence, “For owning and operating
Clark Foam I may be looking at very large fines, civil lawsuits, and even time
in prison,” goes on to say, “The short version of my explanation is that the
State of California and especially Orange County where Clark Foam is located
have made it very clear they no longer want manufacturers like Clark Foam in
their area.” The letter offers some explanation about the closure, but is vague
in many areas.
"I would like to give a lot more details," writes Clark, "but keep in mind
that I may have both fines and criminal charges pending at this time or in the
future. Therefore I have been advised by my attorney to say as little as
possible. I do not want this document to be used as an admission of wrongdoing
nor am I going to help the government prosecute me. I do, however, feel I owe
everyone some sort of explanation -- even if it is incomplete and not a full
disclosure of my problems."
According to Clark, the main concern of the state and county government is a
toxic chemical Clark Foam uses called Toluene Di Isocynate (TDI). He goes on to
say that other concerns included the use of polyester resin, dust, trash, some
of the equipment he built or was built using Clark's specifications, and
numerous safety concerns both for employees and the local community.
Clark says he will not be selling any of his equipment or processes relating
to surfboard-blank manufacturing, saying that the potential liabilities are far
too great. "Furthermore, most of the equipment can be dangerous if it is not
operated properly," he writes. "The only apology I will make to customers and
employees is that I should have seen this coming many years sooner and closed
years ago in a slower, more predictable manner,"
Clark writes. "I waited too long, being optimistic rather than realistic. I
also failed to do my homework." "What will I be doing in the near future? There
is a very good chance that I will spend a lot of time in courtrooms over the
next few years and could go to prison," he continues. "I have a tremendous
cleanup expense to exit my business. I have the potential for serious fines. My
full time efforts will be to extract myself from the mess I created for myself."
Unfortunately, the mess doesn't end at Clark's gates.
Clark's closure will disrupt surfboard production for months, force some
shapers out of business, and significantly affect the retail price of surfboards
as shapers scramble to find alternative sources of surfboard blanks.
According to Geoff Rashe at M10 Surfboards, “What’s probably most unfortunate
is that a lot of people will be out of work, depending on how many blanks are
out there. I think there’ll be a little hiccup for a few months while
international blanks are imported.” However, that may be easier said than done.
“There’s nobody down here who can fill the hole,” says Robert Morley,
managing director of South Coast Foam & Fibreglass in Burleigh, Queensland,
Australia. “I’ve had a lot of people call up from America looking for foam, but
unfortunately right now it’s the peak of our season. It’s very interesting
what’s happened.”
According to Morley, the other primary blank manufacturers in Australia are
Bennett Surfboards and Burford Blanks. The effects of the shutdown could be seen
very quickly. While some of the more-established shapers have a backstock of
several months of blanks held in reserve, other smaller shapers relied on the
at-once delivery provided by Clark Foam delivery trucks. Today’s delivery could
be the last.
The retailers TransWorld Business spoke to were aware of the situation, but
were responding to it in different ways. Some planned to pull all surfboards off
their shelves for at least a week to see how the news effects surfboard prices.
Others were taking a more wait-and-see approach.
“If there is one good thing to all of this, it’s that there’s not a damn
thing any of us could have done about it,” says Dave Hollander, President of
Becker Surfboards. “It just happened. Nobody to blame or second-guess. Now there
is upheaval, and with serious change comes serious opportunity. We will not miss
it.”
According to Andy Rupp, manager at Surfride’s Oceanside location, “Everyone’s
going to figure out how much of a shortage there is, and then how much demand
there is, and then probably set the prices accordingly,” adding that Surfride
wants to stay competitive with other prices out there.
Tuesday Update
It’s Tuesday morning and the gates of Clark Foam are open -- but not for
long.
Given all the panic-toned conversations over the last 24 hours, you’d half
expect a throng of pitchfork-wielding shapers and glassers banging on the gates,
demanding foam. While there’s the equivalent of that going on in hysterical
phone calls and e-mails throughout the industry, the reality at Clark Foam is a
muted scene. There are a few trucks parked just past the gate, farther back
workers are loading crates outside the building at a busy-but-somber pace.
A look inside reveals a snapshot of Clark employees moving what looks like a
lot of blanks on to racks near the walls, but it only brings up more questions
than answers. Clearly there are still blanks in the building—at least for now.
As for how many and where they’re going, no one knows yet, nor is anyone
talking. The thick veil of secrecy that’s kept Clark Foam out of the media
remains.
What we were able to piece together, however, is that Clark Foam is still
deciding how they’ll distribute its remaining inventory. But for all the
uncertainty of what the near future holds for the company, Grubby Clark, and the
surfboard industry, it’s perfectly clear Clark Foam has ceased making blanks
indefinitely. As for the fate of the Clark Foam employees, one told me that
there would be about 100 people looking for work soon. Minutes later I’m
politely told they’ve got a lot to do and the gates are locked shut, only
opening for the occasional diesel truck entering and exiting the compound. One
of the organizations Clark referenced in his letter was the South Coast Air
Quality Management District (AQMD).
According to Media Spokesperson Tina Cherry, "They {Clark Foam} do have
permits with us. As far as I can tell they have no recent compliance issues. So
I'm not aware of any reason why they may have shut down." The Environmental
Protection Agency, told the Orange County Register that Clark Foam was in
compliance with local, state and federal codes related to its use of hazardous
materials and that they were not responsible for his closure.
"There's a whole bunch of surfers out there complaining we shut them down,"
said EPA spokesman Mark Merchant to the Register. "We didn't shut him down."
Forty miles down the coast from Clark Foam, the mood is one of shocked
disbelief at Rat Surfboards, one of a half dozen small surfboard factories based
in a rundown Oceanside, California business park.
“This is like our 9/11,” says Jeff “Rat” Battisti as he stands in the
glassing bay. One of the other employees walks by, saying, “I never even passed
my High School GED. What am I supposed to do now?” Rat has been shaping boards
since 1988, but says he now only has one blank left in stock. “Maybe I should
hold on to it,” he laughs. “That thing could be gold.”
The joke seems strained, however. Rat says he didn’t sleep last night. “I got
here at 5:30 this morning and have been twitting my thumbs since then, wondering
what to do.” Rat says there’s talk of smaller shapers banding together to buy a
bulk containers of blanks from Brazil or some other offshore supplier, but says
he knows the larger manufacturers have already been banging the phone lines and
offering top dollar for those very blanks. He says that in about a week his
current batch of surfboards will be complete and out the door.
The question of what happens then is answered with only silence. Meanwhile,
the scene at nearby surf shops is amazingly status quo. Surf shop owners’ may
have spent a sleepless night with visions of a crowd of customers lined up at
their doors waiting to scoop up surfboards first thing in the morning, but so
far, it’s pretty much business as usual.
Killer Dana hasn’t marked prices up, but has a sign noting it will only be
selling one surfboard per person—and won’t be giving any discounts on accessory
purchases with it. As of 10:30 am it hadn’t sold any boards. Down the street at
Hobie, the surfboards all have half-peeled off sticker residue where the price
tags used to be. They’ve marked up all the surfboards 100 dollars, to start. And
across the street, Infinity Surfboards keeps between 450 and 500 surfboards in
stock, though they haven’t marked them up yet.
“It’s a scary situation,” says Manager Ryan Engle, who shapes boards as well.
He says he’s already sold three boards in the first hour of business this
morning. Just then a customer walks in with a pristine Becker longboard to put
on consignment. Engle looks it over and jokingly offers up what may be some good
advice. “I’d put that thing on eBay if I was you.”
—Additional reporting by Casey Koteen
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