By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Blue Planet owners Amy and Robert Stehlik draw
in the sand on the floor of the Kapahulu store.
You're driving makai on Kapahulu Avenue in a hurry to get in that first south swell of the year when you realize you forgot wax for your stick! Blue Planet brings
the outside insideDamn, where can you buy some sticky stuff?
Then, like an empty 6-foot wave at Number Threes, it appears: the new Blue Planet Surf Gear shop right there next to the Running Room.
Eh, the last time you saw Blue Planet it was some funky kiosk at Aloha Tower Marketplace.
No more.
BP opened its 1,000-square-foot store Saturday at 813 Kapahulu Ave., right on the way to South Shore heaven.
So what's different about Blue Planet?
Walk in through the double doors with your eyes closed and you might wonder how you suddenly got to the beach from the parking lot. The store's floor is covered several inches deep with beach sand!
Look around. The walls and ceiling are painted sky blue with white clouds.
Blue Planet designs, manufactures, wholesales and retails its own line of surfwear and equipment, including surfboards made on the North Shore. The store has been known for its special feather dyes and stonewashes, high quality prints and embroidery.
A portion of all Blue Planet profits sponsor local environmental projects and community programs, including beach cleanups for surfers, windsurfers and body boarders.
Oh, and they have lots of surf wax.
By Tim Ryan, Star-Bulletin
