“We sell fun,” said Jim Hennessy of Ocean City’s Heritage Surf and Sport. “I am the luckiest guy in the world. I couldn’t ask for a better job.”
The enthusiasm is infectious throughout the Heritage stores in Sea Isle, Margate, and of course Ocean City. The original location in Sea Isle has been an institution there since it opened as the Little Wave Surf Shop 1962. The founding Heritage family then changed the name to Heritage Surf and Sport and launched its location in their Ocean City hometown in 1978.
“Our mantra is to be the best surf shop we can be,” Hennessy says. “We want to provide the best customer experience with honesty, integrity for everyone. We want every customer to walk out of here feeling good. If you want to ride big waves in Nicaragua we’ve got you covered. If you want to learn to surf on a soft board we’ve got you covered.”
Heritage has also embraced the skater community and provides a full range of boards, helmets, pads and clothing. Hennessy was on the advisory panel that met over a two year period in the planning stages of the new skate park, and he praised the final outcome. “The city and the designers of the park really nailed it, coming up with more of a surf-oriented park, as compared to the street type park. It is more in line with the community. Skating came from surfing. At its very origin, the sport was called sidewalk surfing.”
In response to the new skating market in town, Heritage offers long boards, short boards and everything in between.
So what else is new at Heritage?
Hennessy said this season’s clothing lines are arriving daily. “The colors are nice and vibrant,” he says. “Blues and oranges, for example. They are bright but normal colors, not the extra bright neons we’ve seen the last few years.”
The other new additions are shorts and shirts made with a 4-way stretch type fabric.
“These items are great for mobility for surfing and leisure. The fabric moves with you, not against you.”
He said breathable “dri-fit” clothes continue to have a significant share of the inventory, and have begun to show up in some of the womens’ garments, as have the stretchy blended fabrics.
“It’s all about being comfortable,” he says.
Heritage’s main store is at 744 West Ave., a 7,000-sq. ft. paradise for the surfer or surf clothing enthusiast. They can be reached at (609) 398-6390; by email at oceancity@hertigagesurf.com and online shopping is available at www.heritagesurf.com.
They also have a store at 14th St. on the Boardwalk that specializes in clothing, board rentals and lessons. Surfing lessons take place every day in the summer. Group and individual lessons are available as are private lessons.
“We will do whatever it takes to tailor the lessons to the person,” Hennessy says. “We even do birthday parties.”
When he speaks of his customers, Jim waxes poetic.
“We are honored to be there and help meet the needs of the surfing and skating communities,” he says.
Spoken like a man who knows how to sell fun.
