Two retailers well versed in the specialty world have teamed to bring surf to Manhattan.
Last week family-owned New York City specialty sporting goods retailer Paragon Sports brought Rockaway Beach surf shop Station RBNY into its door on Broadway for a shop-in-shop.
“Surf is something that is exciting for us, and we believe it’s a differentiator right now in terms of being in New York City where there are no real core surf shops,” Paragon CEO Zachary Blank said in an interview with SES.
Paragon, open since 1908, dabbled in selling a few surfboards several years ago, but Station RBNY marks the first time there’s been such a large footprint dedicated to the sport under its roof.
The 2,000-square-foot shop-in-shop carries a mix of hardgoods, apparel, and wetsuits from brands such as Jetty, Billabong, Quiksilver, Roxy, Katin, Salty Crew, Hurley, and O’Neill. When the existing men’s and women’s swim shop is also included with surf, the total space is in the range of 4,000 to 5,000 square feet.
“As we learn our customer base a little bit more, we’ll work to fit the customers’ needs,” Station RBNY founder Nigel Louis said of the assortment. “On the board side, we’ve got a wide range for now. Things that are easy entry. We’re not going to go super top-end yet, but what we’re selling is what has been proven to work at Station.”
Only days into the shop’s opening, it’s too soon to call any consumer trends hitting the store, but the initial reactions so far have been encouraging, according to Blank and Louis.
Inside the Paragon Sports x Station RBNY surf shop-in-shop in New York City. Photo courtesy of Paragon Sports.
The shop’s opening event included a product showcase, teaser for a movie about local Black and Brown surfers, panel discussion, and dance party. Team Hurley came through the doors a few days later with some of its athletes to further christen the space.
Blank, who recently got into the sport and describes himself as a beginner transitioning to intermediate, visited Louis at Station RBNY with Paragon Divisional Merchandise Manager Ira Rosh. The synergies between the two retailers were immediately felt.
“Once you walk into Station RBNY and you meet Nigel, who is the owner, you instantly feel the connection that he has to both surfing and the surfing community,” Blank said. “Authenticity, passion, expertise – those are our pillars at Paragon Sports. So, when we wanted to get into surfing (at the store), he was instantly the right partner because it allows us to create that true, authentic specialty shop within our specialty store in the heart of New York City.”
It also didn’t take Louis long to consider partnering with Paragon.
“When the conversation came up (about a shop-in-shop), it was like, ‘Hell, yeah, let’s go’ because people who know me and know why I opened Station know that the whole goal has been to connect people to the sport,” said Louis, who has been surfing since he was 10 years old. “Having that ability to do that and have a footprint in Manhattan where a lot of my customers are coming from anyway – it made sense to partner with an icon in the industry like Paragon.”
The NY Surfer
Station RBNY sees a unique customer base of commuters who make the trek to the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens, including visitors from Brooklyn and Manhattan. And that’s the consumer base Paragon and Station RBNY are looking to accommodate with the new shop-in-shop.
Brett Simpson, Will Skudin, Zachary Blank, Nigel Louis, and Filipe Toledo inside the new surf shop at Paragon Sports. Photo courtesy of Paragon Sports.
“There’s a whole subway culture of taking the subway out (to the water),” Louis said. “You make sure you know what the weather looks like with the waves, because you are making this trip to the beach – which is a unique thing for most surf towns. It doesn’t make sense to (other retailers) because it seems like a small slice of the pie, but there’s definitely a huge opportunity.”
The travel time to get to the water for some is why Station RBNY offers lockers for surfers to store their gear.
Understanding what trains go where and whether a line is running on any given day, seasonal impacts to water temperatures, and having the suit and tie to wear back to the office are just some of the considerations for consumers in that market.
“It’s all part of what it takes to be a New York City surfer, and I would argue, an East Coast surfer in the north as well. It’s just a different grit. And that commitment is very deliberate,” Louis said.
Having the Station footprint in the city taps a consumer base the two retailers believe has long been underserved.
“Surf retail as an individual store is a very hard business and, in this case, Nigel, Station, and Paragon working together is extremely complementary, whether it’s with our watersports department or swimming department,” Blank said when asked why he thinks there aren’t more core shops in the city. “I think there’s a barrier to entry for other people entering that New York City surf market.”
Next Steps
The two retailers also look to address an accessibility component in making surfers of all levels and backgrounds feel welcome in the shop.
Louis said the fact that Station is a Black-owned shop has increasingly become a “thing” that’s further broadened who passes through his Rockaway door.
“I never really thought about it that way; I just thought we were doing surfing. But, because of that, I think what has happened is a lot of different groups, maybe who feel a bit marginalized or maybe just felt like they couldn’t really speak out in this surf world, feel comfortable coming into the space, and we support them, whether it’s women or the LGBTQ community. It’s just something that I’m really proud of. I didn’t plan for it, but I feel really happy that Station has become this ‘we belong’ type of shop.”
Now, Paragon and Station will look at connecting the two brands further, with the potential for bus trips in the future, transporting customers from Manhattan to Rockaway in an experiential link between the two locations.
The details of such an offering are still being determined, but the idea is to make it easy for someone in the city to surf.
“If we can facilitate creating a hub like how Station is in Rockaway, where it’s this station you come to figure out all things surf happening in New York, we can be this conduit to giving people access to surfing,” Louis said. “That’s what I’m really excited about is getting more people access from the city to the Rockaways, Long Beach, or maybe even Jersey.”
Kari Hamanaka can be reached at kari@shop-eat-surf-outdoor.com.
