THE HOT ZONE; FOR A CURRENT DEFINITION OF WEST COAST STYLE, CHECK OUT THE SHOPS ON AND AROUND LA BREA AVENUE.

Daily News Record, April, 2003 by Stewart, Al

The guy with the newspaper article is stoked. He's come into the Volcom store on La Brea Avenue with a page from the Los Angeles Times that has a story about 70-foot waves and the surfers who ride them. For surfers, this is like hearing about a huge lottery jackpot up for grabs. Too bad the monster waves in question were spotted crashing somewhere off the coast of France.

No matter. At the Volcom store just south of First Street in the heart of L.A., the excited man might as well have been showing off photos of his firstborn. There are gasps of awe and a clear consensus that this is a good thing. Though the store may be about 10 miles east of the Pacific, at times it seems like a Green Room for surfer dudes. Many of the mostly young male shoppers seem eager to...