Who owns killer dana

Most days, there are two or three wetsuits hanging from our front door, as we are minutes away from good surf to both the North and South. The owners and many of the employees at Killer Dana Surf Shop are second and third generation surfers from Dana Point, very aware of their surfing heritage.

Even though Dana Point has changed and been developed like most places in Southern California, it is still a beach town where surfing and surfers are a big part of the community. When you come into Killer Dana Surf Shop, you experience the aloha and stoke of an old-fashioned, sand on the floor, California beach surf shop. Dana called the high bluffs and sheltered coves of this area the most beautiful spot on the California coast.

Pioneering surfers thought so too, as they surfed the many breaks along this rich coast. Dana Point has a surfing history to rival anywhere outside Hawaii. Hobie Alter opened the very first retail surf shop here in Lifelong Dana Point surfer Gary Wright was working as a waiter at the Chart House in the early s, but had a dream to open his own surf shop. He named it Killer Dana in honor of the great break and surfers of that era.

Killer Dana Surf Shop opened its doors in June of The original store was square feet, with about 20 new surfboards, one case of surf wax, and a handful of T-shirts, sweatshirts, and boardshorts placed strategically about 10 inches apart on racks to give the appearance of having more inventory. About a year later Chris Andrews aka Ralphie came aboard. He, too, had been surfing all his life and wanted to pursue the same dream.

Together, the two partners, while both still working night shifts at Chart House, slowly built the business. The store doubled in size in , and the boys finally were able to quit their night jobs and work the shop full time. Later, as the store grew and doubled in size yet again, the idea was hatched to pursue mail order as an avenue of business. The focus on e-commerce has helped too, as they have built www.

Killer Dana employs more than 90 surf and skate stoked Californians, and operates a 12,square-foot warehouse in San Juan Capistrano just down from Surfer magazine, where the crew packages and ships everything from wetsuits, surfboards, skateboards and shoes, and of course boardshorts, all over the world, every day.