Over my summer break I have been fortunate enough to enjoy the offerings of California. This wonderfully sunny state lies on the West Coast of the U.S. and is home to approximately 39m people (some of whom you may have heard of). For the majority of my trip I resided in the town of Huntington Beach, Orange County, which unsurprisingly is close to the sea, approximately 40 minutes to the South of Los Angeles and is the home of surfing.
Surf’s Up
It’s this surfing element which I’d like to discuss in today’s post. Huntington Beach has carved out its niche as the home of surfing ever since Duke Kahanamoku (a U.S. Olympic Gold medal swimmer and the father of modern surfing) visited in 1925 and introduced the sport. These days this specialisation is so refined that at the time of writing Huntingdon Beach (HB) is hosting the US Surf Open and has done so annually since 1959, bringing in tourism and boosting the local economy. Surfing is so engrained in HB life that on Main Street, when hunting, you will be both hard pressed to find a non-surfing store or a vacant premise as all surfing brands vie for sales space in this town leaving few shops empty.
Shops need to specialise
Readers of my previous blogs may recall my interest in supermarkets; since my last blog on supermarkets it has been announced that the big four (Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and Morrisons) are all losing market share in what is a tough time for the grocers. The niche stores of Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose (yes the more expensive one) are ALL however gaining that share. Why? Well if you said it’s the price point I’d agree with you in relation to Aldi and Lidl, but with Waitrose thrown in the mix I do apologise but I just can’t agree. What separates these three players from the others is specialisation, defined to the consumer. With these three I know which store to go to for what. If I’m on a budget and I’m not hung up on the brand names or shopping experience then I would visit Aldi or Lidl. If I’m hosting a dinner party and I’m out to impress then Waitrose is likely to get my custom. The problem with the other stores to me is they are trying to be all things to all people, both a discounter and a premium retailer resulting in fickle customers with little loyalty to a store and more allegiance to the deals on offer.
Shoppers need a clear destination
Many High Streets in the UK are also suffering from a loss in market share, some with high vacancy rates and often they’re losing out to out of town retail schemes or designated shopping centres such as Westfield. Few high streets are offering a compelling destination for the family and as such are used for sporadic trips rather than as centres of trade and community as they were originally intended. Huntington Beach is of course in the enviable position of being able to carve it’s niche in surfing and not all towns can be so lucky, however, it does also have the complimentary products to the surf shops; it has the beach for the family, the waves for the surfers and the bars for post surf refreshments. It is a defined destination, resulting in a bustling town centre, Monday to Sunday, early until late.
There is a trend being set, a clear trend to me at least and that is rather than aiming to be a jack of all trades, retailers should aim to become masters of one, High Streets should follow by working together in order to provide the amenities and services required by the surrounding residents. Once the retailer’s speciality is both defined and refined, customers will know where to seek those services and other like-minded or similar retailers would flock to join for Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), in a similar way that the surfers of California know the place to go for their boards, sex wax and rad waves.
Side Note
Another popular past time and mode of transport in Huntington Beach is cycling. If you too like cycling then I would encourage you to sign up to the Allsop Festival of Cycling being held at Brands Hatch on Tuesday 15th September. The day is filled with races for all abilities of cycling within the property industry and is essentially a fun, bike filled day out.
