Retail newbies just going for it with Surf Shack

JULIA WADE

28 Mar, 2022

Set up in Waipu’s iconic old garage, the towns brand new ‘Surf Shack’ store, owned by surfers Ellen and Grae Snelling with ‘business savvy’ partner Henry Wong, opened their doors in early March, with an aim ‘to bring back the essence of the old-school retail surf shops’.

Passionate believers in good quality surf gear, the shop stocks boards, clothing and apparel mainly designed by surfers for surfers, life-long surfer Grae says.

“Besides stocking well-known international and New Zealand labels who have stayed true to what they’re about such as Salt Gypsy, Ocean & Earth and Salty Crew, we also have select brands that still endorse and involve the surf world,” he says. “So a lot of surfer-owned labels with a focus on NZ and Oz brands… smart, casual garments and beachwear reminscent of the area and the people.”

The couple have run surf school, ‘Learn 2 Surf Waipu Cove’ for the past five years and were selling ‘a bunch of merchandise’ out of their ‘board room’ (aka the spare room at home) for a few years, Ellen says.

“Always bit of a juggle, trying to take surfboards and other items down to the beach to show people, then this place became available and its just a real cool space to display what we have and obviously expand into other things,” she says. “The store is also testament to Grae’s creative building skills, who painstakingly spent many late nights over six weeks fitting it out. It’s an old historic building and we really wanted to stick with the vibe of that.”

Grae’s aiming to get the store’s interior completed for the Easter sales and visitors, and there are also plans to have their own designer label joining Grae’s home made racks and shelves at some time in the future. Being passionate about Kiwi-made, he hopes their own brand ‘might spark others to buck the narrative and do their own thing instead of looking overseas’.

“We are currently working with a Northland artist on designs and concepts and looking to locally-source garments,” he says. “This whole venture is exciting, we’re new to the retail world but the community have been amazing, been blown away from the positive feedback… so we’re just diving in and going for it.”

Proud owners of the new ‘Surf Shack’, Ellen and Grae Snelling are bringing passion to retail and aim to ‘bring back the essence of the old-school retail surf shops’. PHOTO/JULIA WADE