Men finding longer inseams, women rainbow of options
CAPE MAY COUNTY — While Punxsutawney Phil may have seen his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter, southern New Jersey retailers have their summer bathing suit collections ready for warm weather.
Surf shop and clothing store owners in Cape May County begin curating and updating bathing suit collections early in the new year to ensure that their stores are stocked with the newest styles for the summer season.
Wild Ocean Surf Shop at 5011 Ocean Ave. in Wildwood sells bathing suits and surf apparel and has been gearing up for the summer season.
“It’s a year-round business for us,” owner Greg Forrest said. “Summer is obviously the busiest, and we discount in the winter, so people traveling make sure they load up.”
Forrest explained that he follows trends closely and relies on sales representatives to provide data and statistics on trending styles when he’s curating his bathing suit collections.
Forrest has been in the industry for more than 30 years and continues to apply his learned experience to his store.
He begins updating his bathing suit inventory about a year in advance and plans to start prepping for summer 2027 this June. That ensures his deliveries will come in time for the summer surges.
“We usually get shipments from February to August,” Forrest said. “Spring is when the racks get loaded with the newest styles.”
Wild Ocean Surf Shop can be contacted at (609) 729-004.
Similarly, Andrew Traa has spent the past six months building the men’s clothing and bathing suit collection as a buyer and store manager at Heritage Surf & Sport at 740 West Ave. in Ocean City.
“Most of the time, when we’re going through catalogues, we go through samples to look at what exactly is offered,” Traa said. “We look for what we’ve had, curate what’s on trend, and what our customers have wanted and what they will want.”
Heritage sells swimwear year-round, but Traa explained that new women’s styles begin coming in in February and men’s styles around March or April.
Weather changes drive people into the store at different times during the winter and spring.
“I would say it’s two-fold,” Traa said. “We had a bad winter, so not much shop right now, but right before spring break is when the first blip comes up. We see a lot when school gets out, and the weather starts warming up.”
Traa explained that warm weeks during colder seasons tend to bring in bursts of customers.
Heritage is a surf shop that specializes in fashion activewear. Its customer base tends to lean more toward men.
Men’s bathing suit styles seem to be going back in time, Traa said, with a more ’90s style.
“Bathing suits are longer with larger branding and bigger logos,” Traa said.
For women, Traa stocks a large array of styles.
“Women’s is more color-based,” Traa said. “We generally do a lot of different styles, from triangle tops to halter tops.”
Heritage Surf & Sport can be contacted at (609) 398-6398. A second location is at 1368 Boardwalk in Ocean City, with other shops in Margate and Sea Isle City.
Inside B&B Department Store at 827 Asbury Ave. in Ocean City, bathing suits are also a hot commodity.
General manager Alesha Martinez is seeing a similar trend in bathing suits this year.
She explained that men’s bathing suits this season are longer than last year’s and sport large patterns.
For women, she’s seeing lots of colors. B&B’s bathing suit wall is a collection of blues, greens, oranges and pinks.
The store offers adult and junior sizes. Suits are sold year-round, and last year’s styles are currently being offered at a discounted price. Adult suits are $8 and children’s are $2.
Martinez said the inventory is updated in March when buyers go through catalogues and samples to curate an updated display.
She explained that the store offers sales during major holidays, and customers can anticipate Memorial Day discounts.
B&B Department Store can be contacted at (609) 391-0046.
All three shops sell well-known bathing suit brands such as Rip Curl, Billabong and O’Neill.
Surfers Supplies at 3101 Asbury Ave. in Ocean City has been shifting its collection from popular surf brands to a private label business.
“With our private label business, if we’re carrying Billabong, we’re competing with their direct consumer,” store owner Andrew Funk said. “The shift for us is we’re trying to differentiate our store with unique garments and styles that fit our stores.”
Funk attends local and regional trade shows to browse new styles and update the store’s collection. That allows him to see in person what is popular, what he is and isn’t selling and how he can incorporate those styles into his store.
For men’s styles, he said similarly to Traa and Martinez, that the longer ’90s-inspired board shorts are gaining popularity.
“For a while, it was shorter in-seams for board shorts, but we’ve seen a ’90s kind of vibe where board shorts are longer,” Funk said. “We’ll dabble with the longer stuff, but we’ll stay with the 18-inch in-seam for board shorts.”
Funk said the store has expanded its women’s collection and has seen a positive response from customers.
Surfers Supplies’ bathing suit stock is finalized every September, and Funk is currently waiting for their final two deliveries to arrive before Memorial Day.
The shop has been around since 1962, and Funk said they pride themselves on selling reliable suits.
“We don’t dive into fast-fashion kind of stuff,” Funk said. “Classic swim and surf styles for men and women. We’ve had generations of families pass through the shop.”
Surfers Supplies can be contacted at (609) 399-8399.
Warm weather is fast approaching, and these stores have spent the last year ensuring their collections contain the most on-trend bathing suits of the year.
By JULIA DIGERONIMO/For the Star and Wave
