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MR To Close His Iconic Newcastle Surfshop
By Col Bernasconi | 12 January 2012 |
 In a sign of the tough economic times (especially in retail), Mark Richards will be closing the doors to his iconic Hunter Street surfshop in his home town of Newcastle this Saturday. The four time world champion will continue to shape custom boards – but the shop, started by his father Ray in 1958 will be no more. The 55-year-old natural footer famously known as "The Wounded-Gull" the world over, thanks to former Tracks editor Phil Jarratt, has acknowledged the decline in shop front activity in the street is a shame but he is a realist telling The Newcastle Herald "I haven't made it a secret but the word has got around. We've had people in just wanting to wander round and soak up the atmosphere one last time." And why not. Along with his partner Mick Adam, who joined the Richards in the 70's, MR has been available to give treasured surfboard advice and more throughout his time behind the counter. This time will gone down in surfing history as a golden age where the was a chance for those visiting to speak with a multiple world champion. Imahine Kelly Slater, or Mick Fanning manning your local store from time to time. Slippping you a few tales of battles gone by as he hands you your monthly cake of SexWax. End of an era. If you're in the Newcastle area be sure to pop in and say G'day. If you're unable to go in person, MR's boards and clothing can now be found online at http://www.markrichardssurfboards.com/ |
Comments (1)
Saturday, 14 January 2012 11:22
1
Adam Waldie
As someone that grew up in Newcastle it made me very sad to read this. I remember walking all the way down hunter street, a full extra train stop away from Newcastle station just to go in to MR's shop and see if he was there. His Dad was in the shop back then as well, he would see you scoping around for MR and say, "Mark's not in today boys but feel free to have a look around". Tough times in that stretch of hunter Street today though, most of the shops abandoned and no sign of recovery. The sooner they close Hunter Street to traffic and make it a mall the better it will be for retail. Even Roy Lee and the team at Pacific Dreams has had to downsize recently...Newcastle will rise again!