Community Highlights: Meet Dave Tuzinowski of DETROIT SURF CO.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dave Tuzinowski

Hi Dave, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The story starts in the winter of 2005, when my wife and I spent most of the winter on the island Maui, near Lahaina as we’ve done for several years.. In West Maui, when you take out all the tourists, it’s a very small community, one where everyone knows everybody essentially. Being from Detroit, and always wearing some form of home colors, in a Tiger hat, or Lions t-shirt, or a red wings hoodie, my Maui nickname became simply “Detroit”. A nickname I really enjoyed, and embraced it lake a badge of honor really.

I started surfing sometime after I graduated from College, but I look more like a basketball player then a surfer. I’d usually ride smaller out of the way breaks because I’m not all the good at being 6’7″ tall. On a flight back to mainland, I had lots of time to think as it was a long flight. I came up with the name “Detroit Surf Co.”. to combine my nickname “Detroit” and my surfing hobby.

I got back to Detroit, started working on some designs, and concepts. I had no intention of this being a business or selling them, but just for me to wear. I got about 10 shirts made up, nice tall sized shirts and started wearing them around west Maui. When I wore the shirt, people would stop me on the street, in the bar, at the store, and ask about my shirt and where they could get one. We literally couldn’t go anywhere on Maui without being constantly asked (my wife says Interrupted) about the shirt. Finally, one day my wife says would you “STOP WEARING THOSE STUPID SHIRTS so everybody would leave us ALONE”.

Being a business owner already, I thought why are we not selling these? I immediately did 2 trademarks so someone didn’t steal my idea, then made a web site, and got a small production of shirts made. When on Maui, I’d carry around a backpack full of shirts, and when someone asked, I said $20. I didn’t go around bothering people to buy a shirt, but if someone asked, I made the sale. We’d sell lots of shirts each say out, and go home laughing like crazy..

The backpack full of shirts went to a trunk full of stuff, the van full of stuff, to a house full of stuff to selling online all around the world to making brand skateboards, longboards, surfboards, SUP boards, and snowboards. All the products we made were made mostly in Michigan, with domestic materials, something that resonates with people, especially here in Michigan.

In 2017, after may years of pop up stores and events we opened a full time retail store in Midtown Detroit, the hot up coming area. We had the coolest store in midtown, and we got to know everyone in the area, but in 2020 the pandemic ruined it, Since closing the store were back to online and wholesale, which is the preferred way forward.

Some of the products we no longer make, after the pandemic, supply chain issues, and inflation. Snowboards and SUP boards are no long produced, due various reasons including unsustainable low margin.

We still are on the island of Maui for winter, after a break due to the fire, we’ll be back this winter, still carrying around the original backpack full of shirts. I tell people, when you wear one of our shirts you are “No Longer Anonymous”, you’ll get lots of attention.

I left my full time job in 2010 (or maybe it left me), and I’ve been doing Detroit Surf Co. ever since.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There have been lots of struggles along the way, mostly due to the pandemic. We lost the retail store when the lease ran out June 2020, and didn’t renew due to the uncertainty,

Finding quality employees was always an issue, now it’s just my wife and I doing the majority of the work. Whatever work we don’t do in house in outsourced to various local Michigan companies.

Our main board shaper recently passed away at a young age with a rare form of cancer, this caused us to stop selling various items.

Supply chain issues put a huge dent in a lot of things, especially the parts for skateboards and longboards as nothing is made domestically. Apparel items from suppliers were un available for months to years, as again, we don’t even make a t-shirt in the USA any longer.

We’ve made lots of adjustments over the years in real time to keep up with changing conditions.

As you know, we’re big fans of DETROIT SURF CO.. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Not much to tell, that already hasn’t been said. But what we are known for is the name in a classic ole English design “Detroit Surf Co.”

I’ve done 99% of all the design work on all of our products, and I’m not really any type of artists. My designs are pretty much max out my ability to create things.

All of our skateboards and Longboards have laser etched Detroit artwork in the bottom, and laser logo cut out on the top, both of which is very unique.

The thing I’m proud of the most is how the brand is well represented by our customers. Our customers truly become our friends. We enjoy see people using our products and wearing our apparel items all around the country. When we travel, its a really thrill for me to see someone with one of our items, and I always try to say hello and say thank you, (it actually happens a lot) I recently seen a guy in the airport, wearing a hat (I was wearing a shirt), we ere both running to catch a flight in the opposite direction, we high fived and kept running.

In recent years we started selling long-sleeved sun protections shirts, that are all the rage down south. We have been fostering and have plans to expand this line for next year.
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What are your plans for the future?
We basically fly by the seat of our pants., (I mean board shorts) We are always looking to expand the lineup, but only if it makes sense and money.

We’ve settled in to a sweet spot, pulling back on products with little to no margin, to having a company that allows us to enjoy other things in life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://detroitsurfco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/detroitsurfco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/detroitsurfco