DICK METZ AND HONOLULU'S FIRST SURF SHOP

Photograph of the Month

SHACC Photo Archivist Steve Wilkings' pick of the month. After many months of waiting, the first foam surfboards finally arrived in Waikiki. This was just in time for the Christmas tourist season. The foam surfboards quickly became popular with both beach boys and the local surfers. The following year Dick Metz opened up the first retail surfboard shop on Kapiolani Blvd where he was selling Hobie's foam surfboards. Photo: Russ Maki, Waikiki, December 20, 1958.( Ten years later Dick hired me to manage the shop while he sat on the beach in front of the Outrigger Canoe Club and sold 48 new 14 foot Hobie Cats in just one summer.  S. W. ) Monday  night we closed the stores a little early so each member of Team Hobie could get to The Surfing Heritage Foundation in San Clemente for a fireside chat with Dick Metz. He not only co-founded Hobie Surf Shops with Hobie Alter, but he along with Hobie are the originators of what the “California Lifestyle” is…. no hard leather shoes, no jobs that require a suit and tie, and never work East of Pacific Coast Highway. They shared a vision of an unheard of lifestyle, and they made it happen. Actually, that is kind of an understatement, they created a lifestyle that people will aspire to achieve for the rest of time. And that, is no exaggeration.