Professional Spotlight: Richard O'Reilly

Richard O’Reilly’s early memories of , which he now co-owns, begin during his childhood, when he competed on the store's local surf team "as a little kid," he said, and the shop became a fixture in his life.

"I worked for [the store] when I was in high school, probably like 12 years old," he told Patch.

He said that he would do as much as possible to help, wielding the occasional broom or organizing shelves—unaware that he was laying the foundation for his future.

"It’s still the same way now," O’Reilly said. "The little team kids will end up in the store just straightening stuff up, cleaning stuff up because they want to be involved, and that’s what I was, I’d do whatever... just to help out."

As he grew older, O’Reilly served as the store clerk before he left to attend college at the University of Southern California, where he majored in English. O’Reilly later returned to Hermosa—and to Spyder.

"Eventually I became the guy managing the store," he said.

As O’Reilly already had a long history with the business, when the opportunity came for Spyder to open a second store in Hermosa Beach, he was asked to become part owner.

Professional surfer Dennis Jarvis opened the first Spyder Surf shop in 1983 to sell his high-in-demand handcrafted surfboards. The about 6,500-square-foot shop that now sits near the corner of Artesia Boulevard and PCH started at only 850-square feet, according to Spyder’s website.

Then the second shop opened on Pier Plaza in downtown Hermosa Beach in 1997—and O’Reilly’s career grew along with it.

"A lot of the guys and the managers up at [Spyder] have been there for a long, long time," he said.

He added that the Spyder staff has become a family and Hermosa Beach its home. O’Reilly has emphasized giving back to the community as a business owner.

For example, Spyder has hosted "Surf Fest" in Hermosa Beach for four years and last year launched , which covered Pier Avenue in about 50 tons of snow, creating a winter wonderland.

Snowfest now has become an annual community event, O’Reilly said.

"This year we’re talking about having the college teams come and compete on the mountain, which would be really cool," he said about the winter sports activity held at the event.

O’Reilly shared more about Spyder and life as a local business owner during a panel discussion hosted by the newly formed  (HBYP) on Aug. 3.

"Having grown up here in this community and having kids here in the schools… it’s really important to get involved with the community," O’Reilly said.

Even though the community service and involvement adds more hours of work to O’Reilly’s already busy days, he told Patch that he loves what he does.

"What’s that cliché? The quickest way to kill a hobby is to make a business out of it," he said, laughing. "But I made it. Still surfing. Still having fun with it."

Coming up—Patch will profile co-owner Doug Howarth, who also spoke on the HBYP business owner panel this month.