Family business owner Victor Heredia in Midway District is as much an ambassador as a retailer for his favorite recreational activity: kite flying.
“I’ve been in business more than 52 years, 21 years in this spot,” said Heredia of Kite Country, which is tucked away at 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Suite J. Packed to the rafters with kites and accessories, Kite Country bills itself as “San Diego’s largest kite store for over 25 years.”
Heredia relocated from Horton Plaza where his kite shop was for 15 years previously. “Before then, we were wholesaling kits in San Diego,” he said.
A native of India, Heredia flew a lot of kites growing up in his homeland, but noted when he came to the States that he “didn’t see anybody flying kites.”
It was at that point that Heredia’s hobby became his calling. An inventor, he developed many useful devices but the highest-profile of all was “Vic’s Fighter Kite,” which he created in 1964.
“Everyone told me it could be the next Hula-Hoop,” he said. “So I designed Vic’s Fighter Kite, like the ones we flew in India, only I made it more modern, where you don’t have to tune it. I was wholesaling that before I found out there was more business in retailing.”
Heredia said his intimate retail space is perfect for him because “over here we keep a lot of people happy. We fix all their kites and, even though the internet is there, we still have low prices and sell only good kites. We try to help out customers as much as possible for free. That’s why we’re still alive when most of the kite stores are closing.”
Who flies kites today?
“Surprisingly, people think it’s kids,” said Heredia. “But mostly it’s older people, and now younger people are getting into it. Teenagers and young college students are getting into it. More and more of them are coming. And retired people are definitely flying kites a lot.”
Kites are named for their resemblance to a hovering bird. They are lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create lift and drag forces.
Many different types of kites are flown individually and at festivals worldwide. Kites may be flown for recreation and for sports in aerial ballets, sometimes as part of a competition. Power kites, multi-line steerable kites, are designed to generate large forces which can be used to power activities such as kite surfing, kite landboarding, kite buggying, and snowkiting.
Kites were invented in Asia. The oldest depiction of a kite is from a cave painting dated from 9500–9000 years B.C. Paper kites were being flown by 549 AD.
At kitecountry.com, Heredia vows to “stand behind everything we sell. If you buy a kite from us and it doesn’t fly, bring it to our store and we will help you get it flying for free as much as possible.”
Kites sell for a little as $3.95 on up to $1,000 or $2,000. But Heredia said the average price of a kite is $25. “You get a great kite, the string and everything, for that,” he said. “And there are so many choices. And you can fly a kite year-round, except when it’s cold and miserable.”
Heredia’s had customers over the years whose “kids and their kids have come over here – three generations.”
Would Heredia recommend that parents teach their kids how to fly a kite?
“One hundred percent,” he answered. “Sometimes, a parent themselves doesn’t know how much fun a kite can be. And their kids add so much fun to the flying of the kite. I have had so many fathers tell me, ‘Vic, I couldn’t do anything with my son, but we found something in common, kite flying, and now my son and I are getting together and flying more kites than ever.’”
KITE COUNTRY
Where: 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Suite J.
Hours: Tuesdays-Saturdays 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Contact: kitecountry.com, 619-226-4421, [email protected].
