Hi, I’m Cheyne Cottrell, General Manager and Co-Owner of Island Water Sports. My family has been riding the waves of the surf retail industry since 1977. This is my short story of how we navigated decades of challenges and expanded into new opportunities. I’ve also included some key takeaways you can apply to your specialty retail business based on lessons I’ve learned after running Island Water Sports for almost 20 years.
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A Legacy Built on Passion
Island Water Sports started as a single shop in Pompano, Florida, founded by my dad in 1977. Within a year, he opened another location in Deerfield Beach, which remains our flagship store today. During the 80s, the business grew into a franchise model with 35 locations across the U.S. However, the surf industry faced challenges in the 90s, and the franchise model dissolved, leaving us with just the Deerfield store.
Our family’s journey took a significant turn in 1997 when we moved to South Africa. We all made the transition together and my dad started a church in Cape Town. South Africa became our home for years, but it was also where my dad passed away. His loss was a defining moment for me and our family.
At the time, we had a great team managing the Deerfield store, but eventually, some of our key managers later became brand reps and moved on to new opportunities. My mom told me that either she was going to sell the store or I needed to go back to Florida and run it. In 2006, I decided to dive headfirst into the business thinking I’d stay for a few years and see where it takes me, but here I am, nearly two decades later, still carrying on my dad’s legacy.
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Scaling Back Up: Challenges and Growth
Taking over Island Water Sports wasn’t a smooth ride. The first year I was learning the ropes, and just as I started to get into a groove, the 2008 financial crisis hit. Sales were down 25% for 3 years straight, and I made many mistakes during the worst time for a specialty retailer. But in 2014, we launched our online store which became a pivotal turning point for our business. At one point in 2018, our e-commerce sales surpassed in-store revenue, highlighting the opportunity to double down on our investment.
Our growth journey wasn’t without surprises. Early in 2020, we acquired Boca Surf and Sail—a beloved local surf shop I knew personally—just before our local county shut down for 3 months. Despite the initial challenges, our new location had a large backroom which became our e-commerce hub, helping us achieve record-breaking online sales that year.
Later, we expanded again by purchasing Epic Surf Shop in Delray Beach. The process was lengthy and complex—including a failed deal and renewed negotiations—but securing the building and the shop proved worth it. Today, our Delray location often outperforms even our flagship Deerfield store.
The Importance of Brand Partnerships
Our partnerships with brand reps have been crucial in navigating these expansions. Quiksilver, for instance, has been a standout partner, tailoring inventory recommendations for each location. For example, our Delray location sells a lot of Quiksilver’s Waterman’s line compared to the other locations. We once sold through their inventory faster than expected at Delray, and our rep, Chris Payne, was able to secure additional inventory from a canceled order. This helped us keep our shelves well-stocked and avoid any potential missed sales we would have experienced that season. Having this level of engagement from our brand reps supports our ability to optimize product assortments and address unique customer needs at each location.
Lessons for Specialty Retailers
- Stay Flexible: Each store’s customer base is unique, even within a few miles. Tailor your product assortment accordingly. At Island Water Sports, we initially made the mistake of stocking identical product lines in all three locations. We quickly learned that even a few miles can mean a completely different customer base. By analyzing sales data, we offer unique assortments at each store, ensuring we meet the specific needs of the local community.
- Embrace E-Commerce: Treat your online store as a second location and invest in its success. In 2014, launching our online store marked a turning point for our business. As I mentioned before, by the end of 2018, our online sales exceeded in-store revenue. In 2020 our e-commerce operations is what kept us afloat during the shutdown, proving that investing in this sales channel can be a lifeline during challenging times.
- Collaborate Proactively: As specialty retailers, are we competitors to our brand partners? In some ways yes. But at the same time, they wouldn’t be as successful without our loyal community of customers, just as we wouldn’t thrive without them developing products that customers love. That’s why it’s important to build strong relationships with brand partners who are committed to supporting your business, not just their own. These are the brands you want to connect with on platforms like TrackFly to share sales data and allow proactive collaboration on product assortments that work best for your business.
- Monitor Key Metrics: Keep a close eye on dusty inventory and bestsellers to maintain cash flow and meet customer demand. At Island Water Sports, we call it the “Dusty Report,” which highlights items that haven’t sold in 90 days. Clearing out old inventory quickly prevents it from clogging shelves. On the flip side, tracking bestsellers ensures we never run out of high-demand items, like our staple t-shirts and popular board shorts. Tools like TrackFly make it easier to stay on top of these metrics in real-time and remove a lot of the guesswork.
Excited About TrackFly
Platforms like TrackFly are giving specialty retailers like us the tools to save more time, better collaborate with our brand reps, and stay on top of the industry trends, allowing us to run our business more efficiently in several ways:
- Streamlining Collaboration: Sharing real-time sell-through and inventory data with our brand reps means they can help monitor what’s selling and proactively suggest restocks or transfers which saves me valuable time during busy seasons.
- Reducing Stockouts and Excess Inventory: With mutual visibility into current sell-through trends, my brand reps can help me ensure each store location has the right product assortment throughout the season by making more timely recommendations instead of relying on outdated data from a week or even a month ago.
- Enhancing Decision-Making: TrackFly’s ability to highlight industry trends in real-time can help us stay ahead of what’s popular, giving us an edge in responding to customer preferences before it’s too late.
I’m excited about how these tools will deepen our collaboration with brand reps like Chris Payne at Quiksilver, who’ve already proven to be invaluable in supporting our growth.
A Unique Legacy: The Shark Roof
Before I sign off, here’s a fun piece of Island Water Sports history: our iconic shark roof. Back in the 80s, my dad received a Disney-made replica of a great white shark—originally created for a theme park ride. What started as a quirky marketing idea has since become a beloved local landmark, connecting our past with the present.
Just like our shark roof has weathered decades of hurricanes, Island Water Sports continues to excel by blending tradition with innovation. From franchise expansions to e-commerce breakthroughs and now embracing tools like TrackFly, we’ve learned that adaptability and collaboration are the keys to success.
Want to easily apply Cheyne’s Lessons for Specialty Retailers to your business?
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TrackFly plans to support BRA members with additional industry reports accessible through their TrackFly Retailer Dashboard. These reports will unlock a new level of visibility into consumer purchase trends outside of your own store and enable you to sell more products that are in demand across the industry.These reports will reveal the following data on an industry level.Category growth year-over-year.Product seasonality trends.Industry benchmarks compared to your store location.And SO MUCH MORE!
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Please click on the following link to opt in then email [email protected] to learn more, opt into their free service, and claim your free BRA Distinguished Retail Membership: https://app.trackfly.com/panel/register?referral_code=BRA-TRACKFLY
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