The Surf Station

When did you start your business?

1984 (just had our 25th anniversary a couple of weeks ago actually).

Do you consider the location of your shop a key factor to the business’s success?

Yes definitely. We are located at the entrance to the beach as well as the entrance to town.

Who is your average buyer?

We have a real diverse clientele- from international customers to tourists to the local crew.

If a total Barney walks in do you treat him with the same respect as a full on loc?

Yes for sure- until they walk out then we laugh.

What is the dumbest question a customer has ever asked?

“Where’s the alligator farm?” (you can see the alligator farm from the shop. We’ve had to give customer’s directions to get there when it is basically less than a block away).

Do you have a mascot (ex. - An animal that roams freely throughout the building)?

Peanut butter & Lemmywinks (the two cats that roam freely throughout the building).

What is the craziest return a customer has ever tried to make?

People trying to return random stuff from other stores as well as trying to return surfboards that they’ve already used.

Does your store support any local surfers or have a surf team?

We sponsor Flagler College’s entire surf team, and St. Augustine, Gable Kling, some ‘QS guys and tons of regional guys.

What is your most annoying grom story?

Jacob, One-Eyed Bucky, Squeaky Lewis, Griffin, and Rhino.

Have you ever had any type of celeb roll in and make a purchase?

Hulk Hogan’s ex-wife came in her once with her 24 yr old boyfriend and spent a bunch of cash using the Hulk’s credit card.

Have you ever pulled a hot chick/guy solely due to the fact that you own/manage a surf shop?

Yes definitely.

How many days a week do you surf now compared to before you owned/managed a surf shop?

The same actually.

Who is your favorite surfer and why?

Bobby Martinez- because of his style and he’s super humble, The Hobgoods- because they’re east coasters and they blow up, Gabe Kling- he blows up and is one of our friends.

Has a customer trying on clothes ever walked out completely naked?

No- not that we know of.

Has a person ever walked in totally blitzkrieged (really intoxicated) and tried to make a purchase? If so elaborate.

Yes it happens all of the time actually. This is a really common thing for us. Too many stories to even remember.

Every store has to deal with shoplifting. What is your most memorable experience and what is your shoplifting policy?

Our shoplifting policy is that we definitely prosecute. We’ve had a lot of shoplifting issues actually. A 15 year old kid stole one of the manager’s sunglasses once. We tracked him down somehow and brought him back into the shop and made him hold up a sign that said “THIEF.” We took a picture of it and hung the picture over all of our 3 shops. He still gets super riddled for being a thief.

And last but not least tell us one of the craziest shop stories you can remember?

We even have video from this crazy shop story- exactly 2 years ago- it was about 1 A.M. a 100k Mercedes hit the median and slammed right into the front of our building. A cougar (the owner of the car, actually her husband was the owner) was in the passenger seat while her 20 something year old companion crashed the car right into the front of our building. The crash caused 115k in damage to the shop. I happened to be driving by right when I saw the car hit the median and screech right across into our shop. The guy that runs the taco stand out in front of our shop happened to be driving by the opposite way right when it happened. When I pulled up to the shop I seriously thought the people in the Mercedes were dead right in the middle of our shop. Luckily they both survived. The video surveillance caught the entire thing on video. It included me running into the building freaking out. That was definitely the heaviest shop story we’ve encountered to this day.