Naturally “A friend’s Aunty owned a knitting-mill. She made me a cool custom board cover. All my friends wanted one. Suddenly alongside the wax we were selling thousands of board covers every year, alongside the wax.” - Kent Then came surfboard leashes. Ian and John from Balin in Victoria invented the modern moulded leg rope with a swivel and asked Kent to distribute the new product in NSW and Queensland. Business moved onto an exciting new level.
HONEY SURF SHOP, GERRINGONG Stoked with the success of the wholesale business, Kent decides to open the flagship ‘Honey Surf Shop’ in their home town of Gerringong. He finds an old shop to rent and gets to work preparing for the opening.
UP IN FLAMES One cool August morning in 1976, while dropping a load of wax to the rail head in Sydney, Kent calls home to discover the factory, along with 8 tonnes of wax has just caught on fire. In no time at all, the fire could be seen from over 50 km away. By the time the Fire Brigade arrives, there was nothing they could do. “They literally sat back and had a cup of tea, waiting for it to burn out.” - Kent That very afternoon, while the fire is still burning, the local council phones to inform Kent they had 46
changed their minds and withdrawn permission for the surf shop to open as it was not zoned retail. Within a matter of hours, the wax business had burnt to the ground and the freshly renovated, stocked surf shop had been blocked.
ASHES TO NEW OPPORTUNITY It was one of those profound situations in life, where a positive mental attitude can turn a stumbling block, into a stepping stone to greater things. Shortly after being blocked to open the retail store, Kent was offered the chance to buy a much better positioned property on the main street of Gerringong for $22,000. It was an abandoned grocery store opposite the town hall. The Honey Surf Shop opened it’s doors on the main street of Gerringong in 1976. Although he didn‘t know it at the time, Kent would one day expand this humble store into the largest Independent surf store in Australia, and rename it ‘Natural Necessity Surf Shop’. On the wholesale side however, with the loss of 8 tonnes of wax and the wax factory temporally out of action due to the fire, there was an urgent need to keep the cash flow going on the monthly road trips visiting and servicing stores. During the next road trip, Kent meets a Brazilian called Pablo who has just started importing clothing from Bali. Kent had only ever sold surf hardware products but has a good feeling and takes the risk, purchasing a solid amount of
clothes to try and sell to his usual stores. First stop is Byron Bay. By the time he’s finished visiting the last store in Byron he has completely sold out. Kent doubles back to Pablo and they soon have the bus packed to the rafters.
ROAD TRIPS BOOM Word soon spreads of the success Kent is having selling clothing on his road trips. It wasn’t long before other clothing labels where approaching him to distribute their goods. Headworx and DaKine both started their distribution through the ’Honey Surf Bus’. Kent decides to get some Honey Surf T-Shirts made up by a screen printer Dare Jennings. One day while in Dare’s office, Kent sees some ‘Phantom’ print T-Shirts, which Dare has created and feels there is some potential, so he takes them on the road. Instantly, 1000’s sell every month. To keep up supply, Dare starts manufacturing the actual T-Shirts, as well as doing the printing. Dare will go on to one day create the iconic brands Mambo and Deus Ex Machina. An innovative new footwear brand, Maseur Sandals was the product that would steal the show however. Millions of these sandals would end up being sold but Kent had the honour of selling the very first pair. “I remember waiting in the factory while the very first pair was glued up to take them on the road” - Kent
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