Becker Surf co-founder Dave Hollander led surfing through its retail ‘Golden Era’
by Kevin Cody Dave Hollander’s first surf job was at the Bing Surfboard factory on Surfboard Row (Cypress Avenue) in Hermosa Beach. The striking pinstriping work on the garage boards the 15-year-old had made had landed him the job. His mom, Joanne, dropped him off. When his mom picked him up at the end of the day he told her, “Someday, I’m going to own that place.” Twelve years later, Hollander called his mom and asked, “Do you remember what I told you after my first day at work?” “A mother never forgets those things,” his mother answered. He told her, “Phil, and Steve, and I just signed a lease.’” Phil was shaper Phil Becker. Steve was glasser Steve Mangiagli. The lease was for a former laundromat on Pier Avenue in downtown Hermosa, where in 1980 the three would open the first Becker Surf Shop. Steve Mangiagli and Dave Hollander in 2010 at their Hermosa Surf shop, shortly before they sold Becker Surf to Billabong. Photo by Mike McIntire Hollander recalled the story in 2009 when he was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bank of Manhattan Entrepreneur Awards Dinner. The following year, industry conglomerate Billabong would buy Becker Surf (though not the…
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