Can San Clemente Handle Another World Class Shaper Moving In?

This week in San Clemente, Jon Pyzel and his crew at Pyzel Surf Supply are celebrating their grand opening.

“I never thought I’d have a surf shop in San Clemente, that’s for sure,” laughed Jon Pyzel when Stab caught up with him.

It was never anything Jon or his team ever strategized about or planned. It just kind of happened. The company’s CEO, Dan McNamara, lives in San Clemente and commutes to Oceanside where the company’s West Coast production facility is based. As they were looking for more room to store and ship boards, McNamara stumbled upon an open space on San Clemente’s main drag.

“It’s almost, like, a double whammy, we’re warehousing boards and shipping orders out of there, but we’re also giving people the opportunity to come in and check out the boards,” explained Jon. “It’s a really small space—kind of like the Japanese surf shops that are really narrow and long. You don’t have a bunch of extra crap…it’s the surfing essentials.”

Given that Jon grew up in Santa Barbara and has made a name for himself as a shaper in Hawaii, a shop in San Clemente does come as a bit of a wildcard, especially considering how many world-class board builders already call the zone home.

Among the most rooted and relevant are Matt “Mayhem” Biolos and Timmy Patterson, both of whom keep the area well stocked with their finely tuned boards.

“I’m friends with both of those guys and have a lot of respect for them,” said Jon, when asked about any potential awkwardness.

“It felt a little strange opening up a Pyzel store in their town,” he continued. “It took me some time to wrap my head around it. I talked to Timmy about it, for sure. I explained to him, how I didn’t want to be disrespectful or anything. Timmy’s like my elder, even though he’s not that much older than me. I’ve known him for a really long time. There’s a lot of great shapers in San Clemente and the area, but to me, he’s the godfather of high-performance boards. So, I talked to him about it and he was cool with it. Matt and I are friends, but we’re more the same age and it’s a little different. But it’s all good.”

Jon also noted that “there’s a Lost factory showroom about 300 yards from my shop here in Hawaii.”

Competitive vibes aside, the current crop of rising stars in San Clemente will now have access to three of the best shapers on the planet. Together, Jon, Matt, and Timmy account for a large number of the boards currently seen on both the WSL Championship Tour and Qualifying Series. For the freakishly talented kids coming up in town, to have access to the best boards in the biz, it’s a huge win.

“I’ve always loved San Clemente, I’ve spent a lot of time there over the years,” said Jon. “I grew up in Santa Barbara, and San Clemente has that same thing going for it…just with a little more a greaser/mechanic thing. And it has the best, most consistent summertime wave in Southern California, right there.”

Jon also hopes the shop will help feed the local economy.

“It’s created a couple more jobs for people to work for us. We just hired a couple full-time and part-time guys,” said Jon. “I like to be able to create work for people.”

Pyzel Surf Supply’s grand opening is tonight, Thursday, August 30 at 207 N El Camino Real in San Clemente.