Two foot of snow and a frozen Lake Erie as far as the eye can see! Surfing anyone?

If you’re Dan Roth, owner of Barnacle Bill’s Surf Shop in Vermillion, Ohio, the answer is an enthusiastic “Yes!” He and his family have just reopened Barnacle Bill’s, a shop that once had a strong local following.

“We are a reincarnation of our original Barnacle Bill's Surf Shop that opened in 1983,” says Owner Dan Roth.. “From our opening in 1983 until closing our shops 1987, we had quickly grown to three locations in Vermilion, Columbus and Rocky River, Ohio.”

In fact, Roth says the shop was well on its way to realizing its dream of "bringing the West Coast to the North Coast. The shop’s popular "bearded clam" logo was known far and wide, everything was progressing on track, when suddenly, like a rouge wave, disaster struck.

“One of our partners decided to try his luck at sailing rather then surfing,” says Roth. “One 60-foot sailboat, 10-million dollars worth of weed, and several federal agents later our partnership ended—and so did our dream of being the first chain of surf shops to hit the Midwest Great Lakes area.

“Not to blame my partner, as he had one heck of a plan,” continues Roth. “Unfortunately, it was not a good plan and it resulted in him having several years to think about where it all went wrong—undoubtedly somewhere between Columbia and the Keys!”

So it’s no surprise that Roth is a bit skitterish about partners this time around.

“I'm going it alone this time with my wife and two daughters as partners,” he says, noting that the shop opened in mid-April at our Vermilion location. “With the help of Surf Expo we have picked up a lot of old and new lines,” says Roth. “We will be an authentic surf shop with a great selection, personal service and a colorful history. Once again, The Bearded Clam Brings the West Coast to the North Coast!"

The shop is approximately 3,000 sqare feet. “This including an outside smoothie bar, surf and skate ‘board room,’ men’s and women's apparel section, tanning bed, and ‘Surf Shack’ overnight lodging,” says Roth.

So what types of customers does Barnacle Bill’s hope to entice? How strang is the surf market on the shores of the Great Lakes? “Our customer spends a good part of the year in winter hibernation wishing and waiting for summer,” says Roth. “They range from teen skaters, sailors, and wakeboarders to older, affluent yachtsmen and their wives that frequent the upscale French restaurant across the street from our shop. Everyone in our area is starved for summer. No matter how much you love skiing or snowboarding, it's easy to put the winter toys away at that first hint of Spring!”

The shop will operate as a family business with Roth, his wife Laura, and daughters Mallory and Chloe' sharing a lot of hours. “We will also employ at least four to six part-and full-time associates,” he says.

Roth has given quite a bit of thought into where his shop fits into the community, and how it can enhance that position. “Community is very important to us!” he says. “As lifelong residents, we’ve always been involved in serving our school, library, historical and community boards and organizations, as well as serving for many years as an elected city councilman. We want to give back to our community and local charities. We will sponsor skate events at our local and surrounding parks and plan to organize a Lake Erie Surf Open in the Fall.”

Not surprisingly, there’s not a lot of competition to the shop—especially when it comes to surf hardgoods. And Barnacle Bills hopes to split its sales evenly between softgoods and hardgoods. “I would say we easily carry the largest selection of surfboards in Ohio,” says Roth. “We carry poly, epox,y and soft boards and hope to introduce stand-up boards to our beaches as well. Our skateboard area will be more refined and we’ll carry a nice selection of longboards and ramp boards from classic names like G&S and newer brands such as Sector 9. Our focus is on quality and performance.

“The smaller companies have been great!” continues Roth. “They had a lot more interest in a new start-up shop than did any of the big dogs at the show. We will push them just as hard—if not harder—and hope to grow right along with them.

Nope, it’s not easy being a small startup store in Ohio. “We have mixed feelings about our reps and have yet to see one in person,” says Roth. “They have a lot of accounts and I realize we’re the little guy, but a call back would be great! We often have to go straight to the top to get an order submitted, but I assume it will smooth out as we become established. Then we'll probably have them calling like telemarketers!”

The Roths have owned the "Gilchrist Guesthouse Inn" for 16 years on the shores of Lake Erie so they’re pretty familiar with the seasonal nature of their area and are planning accordingly. “Spring will start to slowly wake up by mid-April when the first of the thousands of pleasure boats begin to Spring launch,” he says. “By mid-May we’ll be underway and will stay pretty busy on through October as the Lake winters will hold the temperature later into the season, making for a very nice fall. November through New Year’s Eve we’ll expect the holiday business, but by January everyone seems to settle in for a long winter's nap! That is a good time to repair, rearrange, reassess and re-order.”

“The economy sucks!” exclaims Roth. “But it's a short season and you've got to make the most of it. That's what we live for. Anywa,y the government has pretty much proved that’s it's okay to be in debt. So when your world leaders tell you that ‘it's not really sex’ or ‘a zillion dollar deficit is good,’ I feel I have no choice but to believe them.”


More Information
Barnacle Bill's Surf Shop
billtheclam@aol. com
440-967-1237
604 Main Street
Vermilion, Ohio