If you’re like us, your idea of fun as a kid included doing anything but homework. For one local surf shop, this presented a ripe opportunity to build a lifelong customer base.

Hansen’s Surfboards is located one Olympic stone’s throw north of the famous longboarding spot, Sawmii’s. While it’s been known for decades as the reliable Encinitas source for surf and skate, it also has a reputation for rewarding kids who bring in their report cards.

The program is called “Goods for Grades” and it was started in 1996 by Patty Bolton, a lifelong employee of the shop. Like the genesis for most great ideas, she had a simple curiosity: “When I first started working here, I was like, “Where are the children?”’ Her thinking was that “kids are constant. They’re gonna grow and be customers. They’re going to get bigger and start spending money. So I just came up with Goods for Grades.” With Hansen’s leadership on board, her initiative was a go.

Word of the program spread organically throughout the beach town as kids told their friends about where they got their new kicks and fins. In fact, the program spread as far as Arizona, with vacationing students bringing their report cards all the way to Encinitas to cash out on their hard-earned Hansen dollars.

The effect of the program is legit, too. Several parents have noted its positive influence on their children, “we had a really cool story of a woman whose kids went through the whole thing—K through 12. She brought in her son’s acceptance letter… it was something 

 like Harvard or Yale,” Bolton explained. And, even though no single variable can take full credit for a child’s motivation to learn, the parent noted that “this was part of our journey, giving him that little extra encouragement.”

For Hansen’s leadership, the program has been generating real ROI. Josh Hansen, current owner and operator of the shop, shared that the program’s effect on the business side of things was incredibly positive. “We give away a dollar, we get two dollars back. But, beyond that, it’s the intangible value of what you build—the promotion of education, and the fact that parents see a lot of value in their kids being excited about education… the loyalty is massive.”

The program reflects a philosophy that success isn’t just measured in sales, but in the strength of the community you build.

Now, if you swing by Hansen’s after 3 p.m. on a weekday, you’ll likely find a pack of groms roaming the aisles—laughing, checking price tags, clutching report cards. It’s a scene that makes one thing clear: the goodwill behind Goods for Grades has taken root.

But the giving doesn’t stop there. Hansen’s also hosts an annual dog wash fundraiser, with all proceeds going to local causes (and Hansen’s matching donations up to $2,000). Recently, the shop has been rallying support for wildfire relief efforts in the Palisades and Pasadena areas following the January fires.

As Josh Hansen puts it, “Any time you can attach some type of initiative that gives back to the community, it really doesn’t matter what that is. That’s the important piece.”

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Oliver Peacock was a contributor to this article.

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