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Dave Hollander, president of surfwear retailer Becker Surf & Sport, says he never thought his online store would be the thing to get his business over a hump-until now.
"It has fully saved me this year," Hollander -said. "We've had quite a downturn the last couple of months in our particular retail (segment), and we have never been down. It has made up all the numbers we've lost."
Hollander declined to give specific revenue figures. But he said the site he launched four years ago, www.Beckersurf.com, is now a "leveling tool" for his business, making it one of a few retail sites in the industry to hold its own.
One online hopeful, extreme sports retailer ,Hardcloud.com, closed down its operations in San Clemente and San Francisco in October. And struggling Redwood City-based online sports apparel seller Fogdog.com was bought last fall by Global Sports Inc. of King of Prussia, Penn.
Another player, San Juan Capistrano-based Swell.com, does e-commerce, but primarily serves as a surfing portal. Doug Palladini, executive vice president, says Swell.com averages about 600,000 unique visitors per month-mainly drawn to the site for surf updates, weather conditions, forecasts and live surf cams.
Hollander said one reason Becker has persevered in e-commerce is that it already has the inventory it sells online. The company operates stores in Corona del Mar, Mission Viejo, Hermosa Beach and Malibu as well as a Torrance warehouse. A...