Saturday, April 5, 2008

School of Rock'er

Though there have always been female surfers and there are more now than ever, surfing remains a dude-dominated bro-fest. Surf shops, too. An exception is Mar Vista, California's Rock'er Board Shop, owned and operated by forty-something California native, Alison Copeland. After a long and successful career in fashion, Copeland opened Rock'er only to learn that the gig, like surfing, came with its share of indignities...

School of Rock'er
Lesson 1: Beware the Surfalo

The term surfalo may conjure images of the smoke-breathing beasts at your local surf break. But the Colberty-ish word was in fact coined by Copeland to describe a new variation on an age-old occupation.

"They're gigolos who want to surf," says Copeland: "Surfalos."

"I have a stream of young men who come into the shop," she says.

Copeland proudly proclaims her penchant for dating younger guys.

"I'm a cougar," she laughs, laughing more at the idea she'd ever prey on anyone. On the contrary: At Rock'er, she learned the hard way that not all the young dudes had the purest motives for dating her.

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Labels: alison copeland, christina andropolis, cougars, Dogtown Ink, dogtownink.com, female surf shop, rocker board shop, surfalos, surfing