El Porto Surf Shop History
El Porto Surf Shop History
Attracted by the shop's role as steward of an otherwise unnamed town with an outlaw heritage, author Woodrow "Pack" Landfair purchased El Porto Surf Shop in 2017 and moved to El Porto to surf everyday and to keep the shop locally and independently owned. In 2024 he acquired Player's Liquor, expanding surf and beach goods and services throughout the property's interior and exterior.
Organically founded by employees of Player's Liquor- established in 1963 - renting their own boards and providing their own instruction, El Porto Surf Shop became it's own official business in 1996 as "Player's Surfboards." In 2008, in response to local officials changing the neighborhood's name from "El Porto" to "North Manhattan Beach", founders Mike Baron and Bruce Huff officially changed the store's name to "El Porto Surfboards" to keep the neighborhood's name alive. Nearly twenty years later, El Porto Surf Shop proudly maintains the neighborhood's heritage.
