Ribbon-cutting is May 7
OCEAN CITY — The owners of Surfers Supplies, the city’s oldest surf shop, opened a second location April 18 at the Surf Mall.
The Greater Ocean City Chamber of Commerce plans a ribbon-cutting ceremony for 1 p.m. May 7 to welcome them to the new site at 11th Street and Boardwalk.
While Surfers Supplies is new to Surf Mall, which is owned by brothers Wes and Chris Kazmarck, it is not new to the island. Surfer Supplies has been a wave rider’s staple for 63 years, now under Andrew Funk and Greg Beck.
Dan Martenz, known as “Part-time Dan,” said Funk has known the Kazmarck family for years and when a tenant left, they were looking for a quality replacement.
“There’s not much more authentic and true than Surfers Supplies. They offered them the opportunity and they jumped on it,” Martenz said.
The original shop, at 3101 Asbury Ave., is located in a nearly 100-year-old former home in a residential part of the city,
Surfers Supplies has 125 to 250 surfboards in stock — depending on the season — sells skim boards, boogie boards and skateboards, and carries a full line of apparel for men, women and children, including wetsuits, rash guards, shorts and shirts, as well as hats, footwear, sunglasses and more.
George Gerlach, a legendary owner and father figure to surfers for decades, opened the shop in 1962. He operated it until 2004, when he sold it to longtime employees Beck and Funk. Gerlach died in 2011, but not before making his mark on the city and the sport.
“George was a very special person to a lot of people and very functional in introducing surfing to South Jersey,” Beck told the Ocean City Sentinel for a previous article.
The shop sets itself apart from the others in town by its history and atmosphere. The wooden floors, counter, overhead beams and changing room doors are made of scrap materials salvaged from old barns and boardwalk wood and “anything he could get his hands on,” Beck said. The upstairs counter is even made up in part from wood scavenged from the Sindia shipwreck.
“Its crudeness is its charm,” Beck said.
“You can’t replicate a shop like this,” Funk said.
Beck, 59, who grew up in Bridgeton but moved to the city in the 1980s, has worked at Surfers Supplies for more than 30 years.
He said the shop tries to separate itself from the others with its “large surfboard selection in numbers and unique, alternative board designs,” including different styles, genres and vintages.
Beck said the shop has a “homey, organic and welcoming atmosphere” different from the other shops, which have a more modern store layout.
“George forged such a welcoming atmosphere and provided great surfing knowledge that it’s almost like a homecoming for so many,” Beck said.
Beck and Funk take pride in offering “groovy, hip lines” so people can identify Surfers Supplies as a modern, progressive surf shop.
Employees offer private lessons and the shop has connected itself with a surf school to provide group lessons and camps. Call (609) 399-8399 or visit www.surferssupplies.com for more information.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff