Brigantine, NJ Will No Longer Be A ‘One Surf Shop Town’

Rootbeer Barrell Surf Shop had been the legacy, mainstay surf shop on Brigantine Beach from 1974 to 2018.

Before the days of the Internet, Rootbeer Barrell Surf Shop established its own 800 hotline number. It was very advanced and forward-thinking in those early days.

When you telephoned Rootbeer Barrell, you would hear a very cool-sounding Australian accent voice that would announce the weather and ocean forecast to the caller.

It provided a great international vibe for the local surfers.

Primal Surf Shop has been open since 2003. Their business overlapped for 15 years with Root Beer Barrel.

Primal Surf Shop is a Family shop, owned by Michael and Susan Laielli.

Since 2018, Brigantine Beach has been a “one surf shop town.”

However, all that is set to change, with the opening of Brig Surf Shop, which will open its doors on Tuesday, February 1, 2021.

Brig Surf Shop is owned by Mike Fry.

Fry has scheduled many different layers of openings for his new store in the lead-up to the Summer season.

The initial Brig Surf Shop regular opening on 2/1/22 is to ramp things up for the first few months before the high season kicks in.

This will afford Fry the opportunity to test their systems before the high season arrives.

What I’ve learned over the years is that the “surfing community” is very close-knit in nature.

They support one another in many different ways. When a need arises, they come together and raise funds for those in need. It’s a great group of decent, philanthropic people.

I anticipate that Fry’s new shop will be very well received in Brigantine and with the surfing community in general, because that’s their nature and because Mike Fry is recognized as a good guy.

My polite, favorable analysis of this also includes that The Laielli’s are exceptionally good people.

Their Primal Surf Shop is now two decades in the making, providing them with earned status as a mature, successful establishment.

Still, this will now be two surf shops within about 1/2 mile of each other.