The Surf Station Celebrates 34 Years in 2018!
St. Augustine has always been dominated by a zealous and vibrant surf culture. It is even believed that Pedro Menendez came ashore and founded the Ancient City in 1565 hanging ten. The roots of the St. Augustine surf culture and community are extensive, running wide and deep into the foundations upon which the city has been built upon, and few individuals know this quite as well as Surf Station founder and president, Tory Strange.
In the 70s, Tory was greatly involved in the surfing and windsurfing community. His love for the sport and the ocean inspired him to open his very own shop. At the time, Tory was teaching wind-surfing lessons inside of the State Park, and while trying to figure out the perfect location to open his shop, he realized that the gas station that occupied the lot at the entrance of the park would be prime. So, he called around to a few realtor buddies and emailed an offer to the owner. To his surprise, Tory received a counter-offer, and with the help of a close friend and confidante, Dr. Steve Lee, Tory was able to open his shop in the bays attached to the gas station in 1984.
As the years progressed, Dr. Steve Lee was becoming more involved in his medical practice and sought to sell the property. Concerned about what would become of the small windsurfing shop attached to the gas station once under new ownership, Tory offered to take over the payments of the gas station and shortly thereafter integrated the surf shop with the full-service gas station. Patrons would come to purchase gas and discover a world they didn’t expect to stumble upon once inside the storefront.
In 1995, Tory wanted to focus more on his surfing roots and heritage and discontinued the self-service gas portion of The Surf Station in order to concentrate solely on the surf community that was so fervent in St. Augustine. The online surf report became one of the primary ways in which Tory was able to interact with his customers and holding various surf and skate contests were Tory’s way of giving back to and being a part of his community. He eventually expanded The Surf Station to include a female-focused surf shop, The Girl Next Door, and The Surf Station’s boardroom grew to become one of the largest in the country, even the world, boasting as Channel Islands East Coast Warehouse.
The Surf Station has evolved a lot throughout the years, but our commitment to customer service and our desire to serve and be active in our local community is as strong as ever and continually growing. With the new year, we here at The Surf Station are more committed than ever before to serve you, our treasured customers, and the community we love. We understand that we could never have survived and stayed in business for as long as we have without you, and we are extremely grateful for your loyalty and support throughout the years.
2018 marks thirty-four years in business for The Surf Station, and it is all because of you! In an effort to share our love for our customers and the continual support you have shown, The Surf Station presents our ’34 Years in Business Sale’, which will be a running sale. It’s not quite our Anniversary Sale (which be held later in the year); rather, it’s something else altogether. Does it make sense? Not at all! But it does give us an excuse to offer you great deals! Each week, new items will be discounted at 34% off and will remain so for that week only. Each new week, we will have new items to discount and offer to you, our beloved customers. So, stay tuned each week and follow us on Instagram @thesurfstation in order to find out which items will be discounted for that week!
Thank you so much, St. Augustine, for all your love and support throughout the years. We are truly humbled and grateful. Here’s to another 34 years of service to you!