Collingwood’s Georgian Bay Surf Club launches downtown shop and restaurant.
Words :: Allison Kennedy Davies
Sitting down over a cup of coffee, eyes glassy from a lack of sleep during months of construction, Curtis Eichenberger’s face lights up when he talks about being in the lineup on the waves with his fellow Collingwood surfers. “We always said we needed a clubhouse,” he laughs.
Clubhouse might be the understatement of the century. Eichenberger and business partners Luke Anderson and Keaton Grieve (co-owners of Gibson & Co.), along with Greg Youzwyshyn, were hoping to collaborate on a new downtown Collingwood business. They purchased a building on Hurontario Street with a set of ideas about what that location might be: A restaurant? A retail outlet? The home of the Georgian Bay Surf Club? Or maybe all of those combined? “We knew it was going to be a surf shop,” recalls Eichenberger. “But we had to figure out how we could make it financially sustainable.”
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The hybrid surf shop, restaurant and clubhouse was born. “It’s all integrated,” Eichenberger explains. “The retail supports the restaurant, and the restaurant supports the retail. A standalone surf shop wouldn’t work here, but this combination will.”
Nearly a decade ago, Eichenberger was just a local guy sporting an ice beard at a home surf spot on Georgian Bay. Back then, the Great Lakes surf scene was still quite small: A handful of local surfers would watch the forecasts, exchange texts and meet up at the break firing that day. People thought they were nuts—braving the cold water and paddling their hearts out for waves that definitely wouldn’t make the cut for the SURFER magazine yearly calendar. But, over the years, the core group grew in numbers.
“When we first started surfing here, we thought we were unique,” Eichenberger recalls with a laugh. “We’d surf around the world, come back home and realize, ‘Wow, we can surf in our backyard.’ It felt so cool, like we were the only ones doing it. Then we found out there were people surfing here since the 1950s. They just weren’t talking about it.”
Despite always being tight-lipped about exact locations, more and more like-minded surfers would show up on ideal days. Over the past decade, Georgian Bay’s surf scene has grown from a tight-knit group of enthusiasts to a vibrant community. Eichenberger remembers a time when it was just him and three friends in the water. “Now you go down to Sunset Point and there are 28 cars parked—30, maybe 40, people in the water at once. It’s wild.”
Way back when, Eichenberger designed a very small, very limited line of Georgian Bay Surf Club gear: hoodies, toques, ball caps. You really had to be in the know to end up with a piece of this GBSC club merch. Like a secret handshake, spotting someone in OG local surf merch meant you’d almost certainly found a new friend. People loved the stuff. They wanted more. The pop-ups would sell out quickly. Eichenberger knew there was an appetite for more and, as the surf scene grew, so did interest in the brand. “I lost money on every single shirt I made,” he admits. “But it was cool. It felt good to see our friends wearing them. I always knew it had potential even if it was just a side hobby for me.”
The Hurontario location of the Georgian Bay Surf Club should satisfy that hunger. With two levels, the downstairs is a restaurant where Chef Mike Thompson will serve an eclectic menu that pulls dishes from surf destinations across the globe. “We aren’t pigeonholed into one cuisine,” says Eichenberger. “We can serve food from Portugal, France, Hawaii and Maine. We’ve got a lobster roll and a curry—there’s something for everyone.” Downstairs also has a bar for local cocktails and of course an espresso machine. Whether you want a latte after your surf or an après margarita, they’ve got you covered.
Upstairs is a carefully curated lineup of brands, including surfboards shaped specifically for the Great Lakes. “We’ve got swimwear from Australia and California that you can’t find anywhere else, as well as men’s and women’s fashion. Of course a large focus will be on our Georgian Bay Surf Club private label as well,” says Eichenberger, noting his original GBCS hand-sketched t-shirt design has been updated to a professional (and wicked-cool) new logo. The layout of the retail space is flexible enough to allow for surf-related events like wave-forecasting seminars, surf safety sessions, first aid courses and movie nights. Eichenberger is working with the Surfrider Foundation to establish an Ontario chapter. “We’ve already had conversations about microplastics cleanups and other initiatives,” says Eichenberger. “This space will open up so many opportunities.”
Eichenberger and his team have been working around the clock ahead of their grand opening, which is slated for the new year. Their space—in a prime spot on Hurontario Street, the former Play It Again Sports location—has been gutted and remodeled from the ground up. “The only thing left from the old building is the top rafters,” Eichenberger says. “We’ve rebuilt everything: the footings, the walls, everything.”
“This is a space that brings people together, that celebrates our community and our love for the water. I’m excited for people to see it,” says Eichenberger. “It’s wild to think how far we’ve come. What started as a joke with a few t-shirts is now this incredible space. Georgian Bay has always been special. We’re just giving people a place to celebrate it.”
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