Tucked just minutes from Redondo Beach’s King Harbor, Redondo Marine has been keeping Southern California’s boating community afloat for over a century. Since 1924, this local landmark has offered trusted expertise, marine-grade gear, and reliable service — earning its reputation as a go-to resource for everyone from weekend cruisers to full-time mariners.
Located at 1010 N. Catalina Avenue, Redondo Marine is actually more than just a hardware store. It’s been an official Honda Center for portable power service, a certified dealer for Zodiac, Evinrude, and Amerigas Propane, and a rare gem where the marine service runs as deep as the harbor itself. Need a part for your outboard? They carry a wide selection of engines and accessories — and they’ll even service all makes and models of outboards in-house.
For Russ Czuleger, who has been at the helm of Redondo Marine since he was a kid, the business is as much a family legacy as it is a community staple. “My dad started selling boat equipment in 1958. It was part of his father’s hardware store, which was started in 1923,” Czuleger says. “When they started building the harbor in Redondo, it became clear it was going to be a good time to sell boat equipment.”
Czuleger has been working at Redondo Marine since he was ten years old, helping his dad and grandfather. “I’ve been doing it ever since,” he says. “I’ve been here full-time since I got out of college. It’s definitely a family business.”
The business evolved over the decades. “We started out selling boat hardware, but we also sold fiberglass boats and Evinrude outboard motors,” he says. “We’ve been in this building since 1970, and after that, we stopped selling stock in fiberglass boats. But we still sold La Luna sailboats.” Redondo Marine was an Evinrude outboard dealer from 1958 to 2011 and has been a Honda outboard and generator dealer since 1977.
While some things have changed over the years, some services have remained a staple. “We do swedging of cable, which is like lifeline standing rigging for sailboats,” Czuleger says. “It’s something a lot of places don’t do.”
Despite being a local institution, Redondo Marine attracts more than just the harbor crowd. “We get people from all over, not just King Harbor,” Czuleger says. “There’s a hotel here with a lot of airline people who spend the night — pilots for domestic and foreign airlines. A week ago, I had a pilot from United Airlines come in, and I’ve had another from SAF. You never know who’s going to walk in or what kind of part they’re looking for. Sometimes they can’t get their part in their home country, or they can get it here cheaper.”
Some changes in the industry have affected the business. “Nautical charts used to be a big seller, but they stopped printing them about a dozen years ago,” Czuleger says. “Now it’s all electronic, or you have to go to a specific place that prints them out for you.”
Despite the shifts, Redondo Marine remains a fixture. “Supposedly, we’re one of the last independent store between San Diego and Ventura,” Czuleger says. “I’ve talked to different sales reps, and they say, ‘Yeah, you probably are.’”
It doesn’t matter if you’re a weekend sailor, a full-time mariner, or someone looking to rig a pirate ship, Redondo Marine has something for everyone — just as it has for the last 100 years.
For more information, please visit www.redondomarine.com.
