Good Clean Fun owner, Steve Hennigh of Cayucos, is celebrating 50-years in business.
Story and photos by Neil Farrell
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or the past year, Good Clean Fun in Cayucos has celebrated a milestone that small business owners dream of — 50-years in business.
GCF’s original owner, Steve Hennigh, sat down with Estero Bay News to chat about the business, sitting on stools in the window of the Ocean Front Street store’s second floor living and office space.
It has a sweeping view of Estero Bay — from the Cayucos Pier to Morro Rock in the distance — and is a great place to keep an eye on the surf.
He started out with a small surf shop in 1975 in a building on North Main Street in Morro Bay, he explains. The store, now upholstery shop, was a couple doors up from Spencer’s Market, which way back then was Young’s Giant Foods.
Jack Smith was his first employee, he says.
“Rent was $100 a month and my first phone was a pay phone. Outgoing calls were a dime and incoming calls were free,” he laughs. “Those were the days.”
In 1978, he says, he moved the business to Cayucos into an old building at 136 Ocean Front St., that has a storefront on both Ocean Front and Ocean Avenue, in the heart of the Downtown business district.
In 2003-04 he tore down the old building and built this new one, which fits the town’s Old West motif well. Over the years, he’s adapted to many changes, evolving from a surfing focused shop to the broader, outdoors industry.
For years, he rented kayaks and led ocean kayaking tours launching from the beach right in front of the store and paddling north to the Estero Bluffs and a little spot called Byron’s Beach, named after a guy who used to live there.
Good Clean Fun “has been a lifestyle for me,” Steve says, “that’s what’s kept me in the game.”
lifestyle store.
He admits his timing has been fortunate.
“I was fortunate to be in surfing when it was blossoming,” he says. “We’ve shifted now to outdoors gear.”
That shift includes a focus on coastal fishing — from the pier, surf kayak fishing and sport fishing offshore. The fishing focus includes bait and tackle, which gave birth to the “Hooked on Fun,” brand.
They also have an extensive clothing selection for men, women and children.
Hooked on Fun “applies to any outdoor activities,” he explains.
Hooked on Fun started out as e-commerce selling online, but now he sells it in the store. His venture into fishing has worked well, featuring everything from bait to rods, reels, tackle and big-ticket things like fishing kayaks.
“We supply it all,” he says. “Fishing is the number one sport in the world.”
He no longer does the kayak tours, and stepped away from a youth program he ran for 15 years. But the rentals continue. “We also have the best collection of beach rentals on the coast,” he says. “Surfboards, body boards, wetsuits, kayaks and more. But the retail kayak business has changed.
“The kayak industry is dead,” he says. What killed the retail side of kayaking is what’s hurt just about every aspect of retailing, manufacturers started selling direct to customers.
“There’s not one kayak shop left on the Central Coast,” he says, excluding businesses that rent kayaks. The same goes for paddle boarding and wind surfing.
“It’s the independent, small dealers that got hurt,” he says. “What’s kept us alive is our location.”
Kayak rentals still happen but “the demand is not there.”
Even surfing has been hurt but that’s more influenced by drones, specifically drone videos that have exploded online and show great white sharks swimming just offshore and frighteningly close to surfers and kayakers.
“Even in Pismo Beach,” Steve says, referring to a recent video shot with a drone showing what appears to be a juvenile great white shark — still about 10-feet long — lazily swimming beneath surfers. “The demand is just gone.”
Now his “bead & butter” sales are body boards, clothing for men, women and children, and bait and tackle.
One thing he offers has really started catching on — a fishing simulator. With the high-tech gizmo he can set someone up to catch any type and size of fish they choose — tuna, salmon, halibut, etc. The simulator mimics the fight you’ll get from different kinds of fish and different sized fish, too.
“I can demonstrate rods and reels on the simulator and it’s as good as catching a fish.”
He adds, “We’ve always figured out something to keep us going.”
He says he’s seen good times and bad times over the past 50 years. “Right now,” he says, “it’s a pretty good time.” He praises his current crew in the store.
“This new crew,” he says, “is the best crew I’ve ever had.” They’ve brought in some special skills too.
“My social media is blowing up right now,” he says, crediting one employee, Chloe, who’s been handling it.
He’s been working on making Good Clean Fun a national outdoor, active lifestyle brand.
Having good help has allowed him to live a somewhat nomadic life, splitting his time between Cayucos and a home he built in Baja California, Mexico.
“I’ve been commuting back and forth from the tip of Baja to here,” he says. At 76-years old, he’s hoping for another change soon. “I have other things I want to do,” he explains.
Good Clean Fun — the building, the business and the brand — are currently listed for sale as a package. “My hope and dream,” he says, “is to have someone keep this going forever.”
He adds that this is “a desirable package for someone who wants a lifestyle change. There’s not a location like this. It’s one of a kind.” (See: www.136OceanFront.com for details)
“Our beachfront location,” he says, “is unsurpassable by anyone in the outdoor business.”
He’ll keep the store running with business as usual and has no plans for any kind of big sale.
In the meantime, he says they haven’t scheduled a big bash to celebrate the 50-year milestone but may do something after the summer busy season is over.
“I’ve had a really good run,” he says, “I couldn’t imagine it would turn out like this.”
Good Clean Fun, 136 Ocean Front St., is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
