Bird’s Surf Shed wants to recoup losses it says were caused by a San Diego construction project that made it difficult for customers to access the shop. Photo: Screenshot//Bird’s Surf Shed//Google Maps
Bird’s Surf Shed wants to hold the city of San Diego accountable for a years-long construction project that they say has hurt business. According to an article in CBS8, they’ve filed a claim with the city seeking $25,000 for a decrease in sales linked to a project that has made it difficult for customers to access businesses in the area.
“No parking on this whole street a week or two ago,” Jackson Huffman, the shop’s co-owner, told CBS8. “When they were doing construction on the whole other side of the street, that had nothing to do with this side, so no parking for employees (and) customers, which in turn caused chaos.”
“I would probably guess (we lost) at least a couple thousand bucks a day,” Jackson added. “You know, there were some mornings, some half days, where there’d be no one around, no one would show up. And again, middle of December. That’s peak sales the whole year.”
A neighboring business owner, Anthony Gomez, corroborated Jackson’s claims. He told NBC7 that sales were down 25 percent.
Jackson Huffman is the son of Eric “Bird” Huffman, who opened Bird’s Surf Shed in 2011 on West Morena Boulevard in San Diego. The shop, which is inside a hangar-type structure made of corrugated metal, is just as much a surf museum as it is a retail space. The walls and ceiling are covered in surfboards made across different eras of the sport’s history.
According to Jackson Huffman, the claim is more symbolic than about monetary gain. They say their ongoing complaints have not led to any action, and that the $25,000 amount is low enough that it will avoid a court case.
“It’s more so just to really tell the city, ‘Hey, you guys are hurting me. If you guys could figure it out a little better or plan this a little bit better, so that it’s not hurting me and the other surrounding businesses, that would be much appreciated,’” he said.
The construction is for a new water pump station that will pump 32 million gallons of wastewater per day to a nearby wastewater treatment plant. The project began in 2021 and is forecast to finish in 2027.
“It’s just kind of thoughtlessness. The city needs to be a bit more compassionate, and they need to understand where retailers are coming from, Huffman told NBC7.
