10 Years in Business and Still Going

I started Shallow Water Swimwear in 1999. I was sewing bikinis for 10 hours a day in my living room in Ventura. The first store I sold my bikinis at was now the defunct Surf Hut which was located right around the corner form my house. At that time, it was nearly impossible to find nice Brazilian bikinis anywhere in the United States. My suits were accepted by the local girls and they started flocking towards my house to have their suits custom made. I was stoked that my work was getting recognized by the most beautiful beach girls in town. Unable to keep up with demand, I started getting my suits made in Brazil so I could sell them to stores and expand the business. It was not hard to get into the best surf shops and swimwear stores in Ventura such as Momentum Surf Shop, Mermaids Bikinis, Ventura Surf Shop and Ventura Swimwear.


In 2006, I moved to San Diego. I pushed hard with sales and got into the best swimwear shops in one of the best swimwear markets in California. By 2007, Shallow Water Swimwear was being sold up and down the San Diego Coast from Imperial Beach to Carlsbad. The plan was to expand the business to other states such as Arizona, Texas, Hawaii and the East Coast. Also, the thought of conquering the overseas market was not that far off since Shallow Water has strong connections in Australia and Europe.


Even before the recession hit the U.S. in 2007, the swimwear market was already experiencing sluggish sales. Nobody knows exactly why but according to store owners the advance of the Internet and the boom of Brazilian swimwear created a broad market with many companies entering the industry. With so many different players the market got saturated with similar products and every body's piece of pie became smaller.


I remember attending the legendary ASR Trade Show in San Diego in 2003. I attended a business workshop held by Reef's C.E.O at the time (sorry don't remember his name). He was showing charts on how surfing was generating a great amount of business and commanding respectable sales figures. According to the charts, many companies were adapting their brand identity to participate in the promising surfing share of the market. Big corporations that did not have any ties to surfing like Oakley and Nike, to name a few, were transforming their brand to partake in this new potential market. One of the factors prediciting the great increase in sales in the surfing industry was demographics. The age group of pre-teens and teenagers, which is the surfing industry main target, was exploding. Not to mention the rise in women's participation in surfing that I personally attribute to the "Blue Crush" effect, after the screening of the movie in all major theaters making it a household name. All that fueled Shallow Water's success in the market. By 2006, the peak of the company's existence, Shallow Water was being sold in 15 stores around San Diego and Ventura County, outselling most mainstream surf corporations to the surprise and delight of many store owners.


Then came the recession. And, it seems like all the work that was accomplished since 1999, was in vain. It has been real hard to get this business off the ground with very little funding and no access to the aggressive American marketing machine. However, Shallow Water is still fighting for its position in this tough business climate. Staying positive knowing that the economic downturn will eventually end and a new business phase will emerge where our company will be positioned for the business thrust about to happen. There is no doubt our product being tested in many different scenarios has been highly accepted. Shallow Water has commanded a respectable share of the surfing industry and wants to invest in athletes and contests because giving back to the sport is at the core of our belief. If anybody is interested in being part of this business in the areas of graphic and website design, publicising and advertising we want to hear from you. Leave us a comment with some personal background and contact information.