GAgRAglan is now operating out of VOLCOM LANE just of Bow St the main street of RAglan town...

It has morphed over the last 18 years from the original Getta-Grip Lab to a surf shop...kite shop..and coffee roasting and espresso operation...

In 1989 Tony Bruce started cutting bits of foam with a craft knife and sticking them on to his surfboards. He had looked at the existing traction pads available for surfboards and worked out that they were just pieces of foam that seemed to sell for $50 or more which just didn't seem right. It was after all "just a few strips of foam".

The foam he was working with wasn't just any old foam though, it was Ethyl Vinyl Acetate that was baked here in New Zealand. It absorbed very little water, wore well and seemed to provide as good if not better traction than the existing limited product available.

He then teamed up with Andrew Wilson who had also been living in and surfing whale Bay Raglan and with Andrews design and marketing skills they went to market in 1991 with what became know as Getta-GRIP. With costs being one of their motivating factors, they sold their grip in a recycled envelope rather than the more expensive multi-coloured shrunk wrap type packaging that their competitors used.

End result - a function orientated product that was less than half the price of their competitions product. Because they literally "handmade" each unit they could not possibly manufacture enough product especially when enquiries flooded in from all around the world. They decided to keep hand making the product and servicing the local marked predominantly, but had exports to key markets growing with each season.

The decision not to automate and "tool up" for mass production proved to be a wise one as within 5 years of starting their company as many as 20 large surf companies jumped on the bandwagon and produced their own 'pieces of foam'.

This increase in product numbers not only brought the price down but literally flooded small markets like New Zealand.

Andrew Wilson went on to become Town and Country's International Creative Director and travels throughout the world surfing and stoking people as he goes.

Tony Bruce got involved in real-estate investment but also started GAG RAglan which is RAglan's largest surf/lifestyle store where you can design and make a new tail pad for your new board.

GAg The acronym for Getta-GRIP

1.gag; to heave with nausea
2.gag; forceful or authoritative suppression of freedom of speech
3.gag; to stop up the mouth so as to prevent sound or speech
4.gag; to deceive
5.gag; hoax
6.gag; contrived piece of word play or horseplay
7.gag; to play on ones incredulity by fake stories

Take your pick!