This month, as we Celebrate Business, we turn the spotlight on Surfside Sportswear and Gifts, a company that has provided clothing, swimwear, gifts, and home décor for 48 years.

“I never dreamed of having a business,” said Elizabeth “Peggy” Fussell.

The Fussells had a trailer on Topsail Island and were frequent visitors. In 1971, they moved to Topsail Island full-time.  In 1976, Forest and Peggy and their daughters Angie and Lori opened a business at 314 N. New River Dr.

Forest, an electrician, worked out of the New River Drive shop where he stored supplies.

Peggy wanted something for the ladies to do while the men were fishing on Topsail Island. She sold craft supplies, and the ladies would gather to create stained glass objects, macrame, cross stitch, candle wicking, and more. The crafting grew over five years.

“We moved Forest to the back of the shop,” Peggy chuckled. “Eventually he moved his electrical supplies off the island.”

Each year Peggy and Forest added items of interest to everyone who visited the shop. They sold gifts made of seashells, household gifts, and T-shirts.

Tourists and locals shopped Surfside Sportswear for glassware that could be monogrammed with initials or decals, a service Peggy provided on the premises.

“There were very few places here to shop at that time,” Peggy recalled.

Surfside Sportswear and Gifts continued to expand. While attending the buyers’ market in Charlotte, Peggy met the Jantzen swimwear sales representative. Peggy asked him if he would sell $2,000 worth of swimwear to give her a chance. He didn’t normally do business with a small business such as Surfside Sportswear and Gifts, but the representative liked Peggy’s honesty.

Soon the store doubled in size and major swimwear brands, including Jantzen, and select clothing brands were offered by Surfside Sportswear and Gifts.

“Before we moved to Topsail Island, Mom worked for a textile company in Wallace in the personnel department,” said Angie. “She learned about the quality of fabrics.”

“My mother sewed our clothes,” Peggy recalled. “My family were farmers, but Mom loved clothes and she made us the best children’s clothing for school.”

Around 2000, the Fussell Family added the back section to the store and added the second entrance from North Topsail Drive.

With her knowledge of fabrics, Peggy stocks Surfside Sportswear and Gifts with major brands that can’t be found everywhere.  The store, with two additions, stretching between two streets, offers clothing, swimwear, beach cover-ups, beach bags, shoes, purses, home décor, and a beautifully unique selection of jewelry.

“We always say, ‘We dress you from head to toe, for on the beach or off to a wedding, and work in-between,’” said Lori.

The Fussell Family invested in the community in addition to growing a business.

“The Fishing Club started talking about a chamber of commerce,” Peggy remembered. “The chamber started at my kitchen table.”

The Fishing Club was sponsored by the fishing piers, real estate companies, and other local businesses on the island at that time.  Each helped to establish a chamber of commerce in 1977.

As the secretary of the chamber of commerce, Peggy recalls promoting Topsail Island with a booth at the NC State Fair where various members of the chamber traveled each day of the fair to give away literature and seashells. The chamber was the first to advertise Topsail Island on a US Hwy 17 billboard.

Peggy and the Topsail Ladies Club hosted an annual fashion show. Because of Peggy’s relationship with Jantzen, the company loaned the fashion show their wool, full body covering swimsuits from the 1920s through the 1950s. The newest lines of clothing sold by Surfside Sportswear were also featured on the runway at the local fashion show.

The Fussell Family volunteered their time to help the Surf City Volunteer Fire Department, Surf City Volunteer Rescue Squad, and other events to promote Topsail Island, the wonderful place they now call home.

While the Greater Topsail Area has witnessed change and growth, one thing remains the same. Surfside Sportswear and Gifts is still a locally owned, family business.

Forty-eight years later, they can be found at 314 N. New River Dr. in Surf City.  You can find them online at SurfsideSportswearGifts.com. The telephone number is 910-328-4141.