01/07/2020
It is with a somber mindset- and yet immense gratitude and appreciation for an awesome run- that we announce officially that Wet Mitten Surf Shop will be closing its doors for the final time this week. We’ll be open Friday and Saturday from 11-7.
Throughout the past couple of years we’ve been slowly planning a transition out of the business, and finally put it on the market this Fall for sale. What followed was an unfortunate series of events that makes transitioning the business to a new owner in its current state/location not possible. The City of Grand Haven, due to issues beyond their control, have decided to remove tenants from Chinook Pier going into 2020. This means our business will be shut down completely, at least for the short run, and won’t be marketable for sale to a new owner.
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When we opened our shop almost 10 years ago, we never could have imagined or anticipated the journey it would take us on.
John and I were much younger and excited to put everything we had into our own venture. I can remember vividly the weeks and days prepping the shop to open in the winter and early spring of 2011: How the shop was setup, what music was playing, what products we had on the shelves, our first rough budget/business plan scribbled hastily on lined paper… I can also remember most of the customers and friends who bought the first shipment of boards we brought in, how exciting it was when we sold our first stand up paddle board (to a nice lady and her daughter from Pentwater).
Through the years the one thing that was constant, the factor that made the un-cushy life of a small business owner worth-while- was the support from our friends, customers and community. John and I, along with almost everyone who has worked with us, have made life-long friends and connections through Wet Mitten. And more important to us is that many of our friends and customers made life-long connections with one another, creating and expanding the Great Lakes surf community.
The Wet Mitten for me was always more of an ideal than it was a tangible entity. A shop is just a space to sell things. A shop is tangible and can come and go. The Wet Mitten was our vehicle to promote the idea that surfing and board sports more broadly are for everyone - that experiencing joy from being in the water is for everyone. You don’t have to look or act a certain way or exhibit a certain skill level. It isn’t and shouldn’t be an exclusive club. The goal was always to get anyone and everyone in the water who enjoys and respects it. As I said to my team repeatedly at the start of every season - “we’re the surf shop for the every-man”.
It’s not lost on me that I’m writing this the week after the annual New Years Day paddle-out, where I was reminded of the pure joy of flopping around in freezing temperatures and riding barely surf able waves with a group of new and old friends on a beautiful January day to kick off the new year. Getting in the water has always provided a reminder of why we built this in the first place. A shop is just a shop - and a brand is just ink on a t-shirt - but the experience of being in the water and riding waves with your friends is timeless and survives forever.
The list of people I owe thanks and gratitude to for their guidance and patience is a mile long. Most notably my brother John who came up with this idea in the first place. Without him and his non-stop startup ideas I wouldn’t have moved back to Michigan, or had this experience or any of the life I have today. As business partners we struck a solid balance, and of course remain best friends.
The team from the early years that really helped us build the brand and worked their butts off not because it was just a Summer job but because they believed in what we were trying to create… I don’t want to forget anyone so you know who you are. Also to everyone who worked with us, I should note that my biggest joy from a management standpoint was hanging and chatting with you all about nothing in particular. Bouncing ideas around about your school or life plans, or much less serious topics, and seeing you all go on to kick ass at life has been a privilege.
Mainly though, the guy that’s been my rock and endlessly loyal to me for the past couple of years as we’ve been slowly contemplating this transition - running the entire business with limited guidance while maintaining the role of my closest personal confidant and sounding board. To the best ever shop manager and friend Tim Haadsma, some of us might think your loyalty is just payback for me saving your life off the South Pier, but I’d like to think it’s just cause I’m a cool guy :)
Thank-you all so much for everything - Hang loose and have a great day!
Ben McNeil - Owner: Wet Mitten Surf Shop
