Third Coast grows again: Surf shop moves closer to beach in New Buffalo

Third Coast Surf Shop has grown dramatically since its humble beginnings, when owner Ryan Gerard and his wife were the store.

“We did everything,” Gerard says. “Slowly but surely, we’ve added an employee here and there. Now, obviously, with two separate stores, two rental locations and services, we’ve grown quite a bit.”

Most recently, the staff has expanded by six positions — for a total of 20 employees during the summer — as the original store relocated to a much bigger space.

Gerard opened the original Third Coast Surf Shop in New Buffalo in 2005. In 2011, he added a store in St. Joseph. This year, the original store moved to a higher traffic location closer to the beach in downtown New Buffalo, at 110-C N. Whittaker St.

“We needed a better location,” Gerard says. “A higher traffic location, with more walk-by traffic, and closer to the beach. Downtown New Buffalo made more sense for us. The old location was on a side street. We needed to get down in front of more people.”

Staying in New Buffalo was important to Gerard.

“It’s where we started the business,” he says. “We have a very good relationship with the community and the city. We’ve been established there for quite a few years and it wouldn’t make sense for us to leave that location.”

At about 1,500 square feet, the new New Buffalo location more than doubles the retail space of the original store, Gerard says. It is also a unique space: two separate buildings in a small courtyard, reached via a covered pathway.

One building houses the “hard goods” — stand-up paddle boards, surfboards, sand boards, skimboards, beach umbrellas and more. The other houses the “soft goods” — clothing, sandals, sunglasses and accessories.

“It’s a better location for us and our customers, it’s close to the beach and it’s a unique space we have in the courtyard,” Gerard says.

In addition to selling surf products, Third Coast offers rentals and lessons at both stores, rentals in two additional locations on the New Buffalo beach and the Galien River and camps for kids. Third Coast also has a thriving online store.

Writer: Fran Wilcox, Second Wave Media
Source: Ryan Gerard, Third Coast Surf Shop