CITY FOCUS:Cult comes to H.B.

Australian surf apparel and gear company Cult Industries quietly opened its first North American retail store in Huntington Beach recently, but plans are on to have a big party later.

One of the most inviting stores on Main Street, Cult has an array of edgy designs and styles, coupled with some great prices.

“It’s kind of different from what we have on Main Street — the look, the clothes,” said Huntington Beach resident John Nasom. “I guess because it’s Australian!”

Nasom was buying a second wetsuit from the store, while still dripping water after surfing.

The store displays about 700 company products, from key chains, hats, bags, jewelry, sunglasses and flip-flops to a full line of clothing, wetsuits and surfboards.

“This is a great opportunity to display all the new products and stuff we have,” said Ryan Ellis, an associate store manager. “It would be hard to display all 700 products in a 8 feet by 10 feet spot in a surf store.”

“You walk into the store and you know the meaning of the brand,” said General Manager Gary Richards. Stores such as Huntington Surf & Sport and Jack’s on Main Street can’t devote the kind of space needed, he said.

The 3,000-square-foot store is Cult’s first foray into the retail business. The Australian company is better known for its wholesale business and is experimenting a concept showroom in Surf City USA, in the heart of the “Velcro Valley,” according to Richards.

“Huntington Beach is where the infrastructure of the entire surf world is located, where the employee base, the talent base, the designer and logistical base is,” he said. “It’s also Surf City, so you have the whole industry, from surfboards to the garment industry, here.”

And it’s also close enough to Los Angeles for them to feed into the fashion trends coming out of there, Richards added.

Speaking of fashion, the store’s eclectic taste is right on the money. Persian rugs and antique furniture meld into the showroom’s contemporary style.

But the store wasn’t always so hip and chic at the same time. In about 50 years of its existence, the space on Orange and Main streets started out as a dry cleaners, moving on to become a furniture shop, then a janitorial store for many years before it became an auto parts store and a CD place, according to Jamie Bencal, store manager.

“So many businesses were here before,” Bencal said. “But everybody thinks this is going to last and that we are here to stay.”

While Cult’s fall line is doing very well with its bulky sweaters, jackets with tighter silhouettes and a fur trim, Bencal says she is waiting for the holiday line-up.

But its line of board shorts, formal and casual, seem to have made a permanent home in the store.