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Ground Zero for Tiki Fever
by: Debbie Sklar, Business Watch

Tiki anyone?
According to Steven Tustison we're smack dab in the middle of tiki fever.

Tustison is the owner of Tiki Daddy which used to be located in the former "The Surf Spot" location at 2208 1/2 S. El Camino Real (across from the you-do-car wash) and now located at 34232 Camino Capistrano, Capistrano Beach, CA 92624. so he should know. The shop opened in December and is apparently going gungbasters. "Business is great, you'd think someone announced it was national tiki week or something", Tustison laughed. "There's no doubt about it, tiki is hot like Hot Wheels used to be hot when I was a kid".

He may be on to something - Disneyland recently asked So Cal designer, painter, illustrator Josh Agle (perhaps better knows as Shag) to design a collection of limited edition artwork and merchandise to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Enchanted Tiki Room attraction. The merchandise will include limited edition serigraphs, aloha shirts, tiki mugs, handbags, card sets, and a few other goodies, and will only be available through the Disneyland Gallery.

Tustison said he reckons that the ancient tiki goes back to pre-historic Hawaii and that the first tiki is reported to have been discovered on Easter Island. At Tiki Daddy, which is also Tustison's nickname, there's everything tiki and surf related - from hand-made jewelry to T-shirts to funky home stuff. "People walk in and say, "Whoa, you've really got the aloha thing going on" Tustison said. Prices start at $5.00 and go up to $5,000.00.

"We've got something for every tiki budget" he joked. The 41 year old San Clemente native said he got hooked on tiki masks three years ago after his niece asked if he would carve a necklace for her, which he happily obliged. "I've been carving stuff since I was a little kid" he explained. "I'm a creative person and used to do all kinds of sculptures, carvings and artistic projects."

At Tiki Daddy all items are made from recycled materials including palm trees and recycled lumber. "I started all of this in my garage actually" he recalled. "My wife, Jennifer, works for the state park and I'm at home with our three sons; we've got the classic reversal thing. I wasn't selling my stuff proactively from home, but people would come by and ask if they could buy whatever I was working on".

So, Tustison decided to turn his hobby into a business and voila! Tiki Daddy has really taken off. In fact, so much so that Tustison asked the chamber if he could donate two tikis. "They said sure and plan to put them outside the front doors" he said. "I've got one of them just about finished and it is 7 feet tall and 2 inches deep. His teeth are as long as your arm!"

Tustison also said he's enjoying his new found business fame and that he would like to eventually open another shop perhaps in Laguna Beach. He's even looking for potential partners and said there's definitely money in the tiki business.

There's also tiki carving classes in the works to be held downtown, as well as at campfires at the SC State Park on Thursdays once per month as soon as the weather warms up. "I'm thinking this could be endless" he said. "Trade shows have even rented my tikis and people who are having parties too".

Tiki Daddy is open seven days from 11:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Call (949) 498-8150 for more information.

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