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I gotta tell you . . . . the new Stand Up Paddle (SUP) Company here in Laguna Beach has been making all the right waves since its arrival early this year.
These young guys walked in, took over one of the largest empty galleries in town, and immediately set to work befriending the Laguna Beach locals and providing a plethora of boards, paddles and VERY patient classes for the newest craze in the surf industry.
At the Doheny Beach SUP Races this summer, Laguna’s Stand Up Paddle Company built a veritable surf shack (complete with wood floor and comfy couches) on the beach, and conducted YouTube interviews with the world’s elite paddlers, while other vendors lounged under the usual sterile white booth tents.
They’ve also made a splash by hiring live, hip bands during Laguna Beach Art Walk nights, which has proven a great lure to Laguna Beach art galleries beyond just the central galleries downtown. So, I’m not at all surprised to see them step in and do it right during our upcoming Laguna Beach Hospitality Night this Friday night …
Now, I’m a decent fan of Hospitality Night – our annual December event that welcomes Santa on Forest Ave. (with greyhounds pulling the sleigh, no less). Hospitality Night opens all the galleries, stores and restaurants with holiday specials, drinks and food; it’s holiday Nirvana for kids and families alike to be sure. It runs 6 – 10 p.m. this Friday night (Dec. 3).
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I suspect this year, though, many Laguna Beach Hospitality attendees will migrate slightly south to the Stand Up Paddle Co. to groove to none other than World Anthem‘s live reggae band. (Seriously. How cool is that? . . . . You think they do “Silent Night”?)
Meanwhile, the SUP folks are offering a holiday-only store special – a low, low $749 package on Riviera stand-up paddle boards and carbon paddles – a serious deal to boost you or your water-loving friend/family member to this above-water, oh-so-cool paddling experience.
If you’re planning to be out in Laguna Beach this Friday on Hospitality Night, be sure to check in at the SUP Company – which sits on PCH and Oak Street – and show them some love. It takes work to break into this town with this kind of retail entity, and they deserve some serious kudos for doing it right.