At the Racket Stringing Workshop in La Jolla, regulars are greeted by their first name with a welcoming smile. Naturally, this is because it’s not a franchise or part of a big chain. It’s what some would refer to as a “mom and pop” store, owned and operated by Mark Standlee. It’s located in a charming old beach cottage on Draper just like it was years ago when somebody used to called it home. We’re talking wood floor, front porch and all. The shop’s been around for almost 40 years, having outlasted a number of stores trying to be just like it.
Opened in 1975, the Racket Stringing Workshop is run by tennis players for tennis players; but it is also much, much more. In 1980 the current owner, Mark Standlee bought it and it’s been his “racket” ever since. Sports gear of all kind, mostly tennis of course, can be found all over the store; a lot of it hanging from the rafters of the open ceiling. And, behind the small counter where business is transacted, there’s all the equipment needed to keep tennis players out swinging.
After you enter be sure to take a peek at the ceiling behind the counter as over the years workshop personnel have covered it with newspaper articles, magazine articles, photos and personal memorabilia. Indeed, each clipping has a story to tell; one could spend a week reading the memories presented on that ceiling.
The Racket Stringing Workshop even runs a tab for it regulars if they’re late for a match. Where can anybody get that kind of service in this day and age? Exactly, keep thinking. No less a notable than Bobby Riggs hurried in one morning, late for an exhibition, a worried look covering his face and a damaged racquet in his hand. Minutes later, he left smiling with his racquet repaired and made it to his exhibition with time to spare. He won the exhibition by the way. And Riggs in certainly not the only pro to visit the shop. Andre Agassi used the workshop when he trained in La Jolla for his last tournament at the US Open. Next time you’re in just ask Mark Bartholovitsch, the shop’s manager, for a verbal tour of the shop’s years of service to tennis stars and folks of all ages who just enjoy getting out for a good game of tennis and a relaxing social gathering afterward.
Local pros and tennis players alike call the store a blessing: someplace where you can get a smile and quick service. The kind of quick service where a racquet could even be restrung between sets, if push came to shove. In this store, the frustrating “maybe-next-week-service” doesn’t exist.
Of course, the store didn’t begin its life as a tennis shop. It began as a small cottage for people who traveled to the “big houses” in La Jolla to work in the yards and the homes. Later, as the neighborhood changed, the cottage became the home for a café which, according to some, served up the best BBQ in town until the lady who ran the place (and did the cooking) died. In fact, the old cash register still sits on the old counter that many a steaming BBQ plate passed over. After her death, the store sat dormant until some enterprising tennis players opened it as a tennis shop in 1975.
The folks in the Workshop keep a close eye on the next great tennis players by supporting the tennis programs at the local schools; Angela’s Tennis Academy at La Jolla Country Day School, The Bishop’s School and La Jolla High School. Ask them which La Jolla tennis players will show up at Wimbledon; they’ll know.
lajollatennis.com [email protected] Call 858 454-2778 7548 Located at Draper Ave.