OCEAN CITY – The B&B Department Store on Asbury Avenue is going out of business and – after a renovation – going right back into business.
Helen Bertole, the owner of the B&B South store, a mainstay of Ocean City’s downtown since the 1980s, is closing her businesses by the end of February and selling the merchandise, but the owner of the building, B&B North, is coming in to renovate the space, bring in some additional lines of clothing, and reopen the location in May.
B&B made news late last week with a post on the store’s Facebook page that B&B South would be closing. That drew a lot of attention and worry, but it was quickly learned that while she was closing her business, the family that owns the building – and B&B North stores – would continue the tradition, with upgrades.
Jeffrey Davidson, executive vice president of B&B North and son of B&B owner Dave Davidson, said the B&B Department Stores group split in 2006, with Helen Bertole, widow of cofounder Phil Bertole, taking over the stores including Ocean City, Beach Haven, Sea Girt and Ship Bottom. The Beach Haven and Ship Bottom stories have already closed.
B&B North runs stores in Lavalette and Seaside Park.
“She is ending B&B South, but my family owns the stores so we are going to take them back,” Davidson said, noting he used to run them until the split in 2006.
“I’m very familiar with Ocean City. I love the town. We’re going to open the back doors, we’re going to open the fitting rooms. We’re going to reinstate Senior Day on Tuesdays and we’re going to go back to what people fondly remember, because it has changed a lot, but that’s how I run my Seaside and Lavallette stores,” he said.
The fitting rooms and back doors have been closed in Ocean City since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the hours have been shortened, another thing that will change once B&B North takes back over.
Phil Bertole and Dave Davidson bought the property on Asbury Avenue in 1986 and knocked it down to create the 11,000 to 12,000 square foot space that replaced stores on the ground floor and apartments above it, Jeffrey Davidson explained.
“They literally knocked the whole thing down and hauled it away in 1986 and opened the store on July 4th,” Davidson said. “We have a long history in Ocean City.” He added his father still owns the company as he approaches his 90th birthday and noted one of Bertole’s daughters, Laura, owns the Island Gypsy chain, which has a store just down the street from B&B at the northwestern corner of Eighth Street and Asbury Avenue.
Some of the most iconic aspects of Ocean City’s B&B store, at 827 Asbury Ave., are going to remain, including the upside-down VW bug and the airplane hanging from the ceiling.
Davidson said a lot of that type of decorating was the brainchild of Phil Bertole when he and Dave Davidson were partnered. He said his father still owns those items and they may add more; he adds things such as a Christmas train during the holidays at his Lavallette store.
“We’re going to do a little work,” Davidson said about the store. “We don’t want any of her merchandise so we have to fill the store, renovate the store. Our plan is we will open sometime in May.”
He said although Bertole limited the Ocean City B&B hours because of the difficulty in getting help during the pandemic, B&B North was able to maintain its hours. He said when the Ocean City store reopens, it will go back to its long summer hours of 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. It is currently opened from 9 to 6. The hours will increase as it gets closer to summer.
“We have a little bit of a different philosophy, but you’re still going to see the surf lines,” Davidson said. “You’ll find some things that are pricier but other things will be popularly priced.
We’re excited. We always loved ocean City. It was always a great store for us.”
Davidson said he already has the manager for B&B, a local resident who is a veteran of the Ocean City boardwalk.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff