When John Harris first laid eyes on a hang glider in 1973, the captivating Winston-Salem Journal photograph of a man floating beneath vibrant, flexible wings immediately captured his attention. “I had always been interested in flying,” he relates, dialing back to childhood days of sending kites soaring and dreams of owning a small plane.
The brightly colored glider pictured in newsprint changed the trajectory of Harris’ life. “It was an affordable flying machine,” he quips.
Harris tracked down the man from the photograph, a sail maker. He lived in Utah where the picture was taken by a press wire service that the Journal tapped for human interest and news pieces. “He sold me a glider and shipped it to me along with an 8-millimeter silent film so I could get a sense of how a glider was launched and landed,” he says.
Dare County, North Carolina’s Jockey’s Ridge State Park would be the ideal hang gliding setting, thought Harris, as it is the home to the tallest living sand dune system on the Atlantic Coast.
Harris had lived close by, working as an engineer at AT&T for a few years before leaving the position to focus on his master’s degree in geological oceanography.
After studying the film footage, Harris and some friends took to the beach to test the glider. “We ran up and down the beach until we learned how to fly it,” he says, estimating at least 40 sprints across pillowy dunes until he was up, up and away.
“That weightless feeling when you are lifted off the ground into the air and you’re floating is a wonderful, joyful experience,” says Harris.
He was hooked. A year later, a business was born. Now it’s the largest hang gliding school in the world.
Teach the world to fly
“I wanted to share hang gliding with others, and I thought it was so amazing, everyone would want to do it and buy a hang glider,” Harris says of how his fascination with flight resulted in opening Kitty Hawk Kites in Nags Head, North Carolina, a year later.
At Kitty Hawk Kites’ flagship store, a Flight Deck is full of aviation clothing, recreational kite products, toys and more for guests to take home with them.
Photos: Neil GT Photography
In spring 1974, Harris says he first got laughed out of a realtor’s office before an optimistic agent listened and pointed him to an available garage space. It was on the property of a former nightclub-turned-casino on the main drag, U.S. 158. While the space was only 500 square feet, the location was perfect. Plus, it came with an outhouse.
Harris parked hang gliders in front of the garage store daily. The gliders were eye candy and basically free advertising.
“People would see the colorful gliders, pull in and start asking questions,” says Harris.
Next came a brochure that was widely distributed. The local tourism bureau pumped up excitement for the fledgling business.
“We started teaching people to fly and they loved it, and word started to travel,” says Harris.
At first, the operation’s retail inventory consisted of a “cardboard bin of kites and a few T-shirts,” Harris recalls.
That initial outpost and passion for flight has evolved during its 50-year history to include three distinct brands: Kitty Hawk Kites, Kitty Hawk Surf Co. and licensed Life is Good stores. Most shops offer outdoor adventures tailored to the locale, from parasailing and stunt kite flying to surfing and kayak tours. There are more than 30 ways to experience water and land across the company’s 15 Outer Banks spots.
The Nags Head flagship is staffed by hang gliding experts who teach lessons, as is the Charleston, New Hampshire, location where experienced educators show customers how to soar over the Connecticut River Valley.
As the business has grown, so has its retail offerings of all-things flight and gear — kites, wind art, beach games, apparel, footwear, decor and gifts. Kitty Hawk also hosts more than two dozen large-scale events throughout the year to spark community engagement.
Harris maintains his early vision: to teach the world to fly. In many ways, Kitty Hawk Kites is a movement, creating memories and fueling a passion for the outdoors.
Launching locations
Harris admits at first, “I overestimated the market a little bit.” Securing financing can be a real challenge for any business. But hang gliding? No one was willing to bank on Harris’ plan until five years after he opened Kitty Hawk Kites and grew an ever-expanding audience and customer base.
Kitty Hawk Kites’ breakthrough milestone was landing that first garage store. Another biggie: obtaining financing to build a considerable retail presence in Nags Head across from Jockey’s Ridge State Park.
Pirate themes are popular at Kitty Hawk Kites, with a flagship store in the Outer Banks. Customers can check out playful T-shirts, caps, drinkware, jewelry and more.
Another win: opening Kitty Hawk Surf Co. in Duck, North Carolina, a foray into the surf and windsurfing sector with necessary equipment, apparel and accessories.
Following continued expansion throughout the Outer Banks, Harris then soared into Florida with Kitty Hawk Kites — first a location in Fort Walton Beach and then Destin.
As with the very first spot, a namedrop-worthy location is the deciding factor for where and when to open a new store. “It has to be high-traffic, foot or cars, easily accessible with good visibility and available parking,” says Harris.
Coastal destinations offer the necessities for success: wind, tourists and a willingness to splurge. “Kites are great recreation and surf clothing, T-shirts, hats and impulse jewelry sell in all coastal environments,” Harris says.
First, Harris identifies available properties in a location. Then he plans for the store, which includes considering which of the company’s brands will move in. “Some locations have three distinct stores,” he says of Kitty Hawk Kites, Kitty Hawk Surf Co. and Life is Good.
Guests hop among shops in close proximity, such as in the same retail center or main drag. Other destinations have a single stand-alone store, one Kitty Hawk brand. And there’s the store-within-a-store setup, which usually means merchandising Life is Good within a Kitty Hawk Surf Co. or Kitty Hawk Kites location. Any mix of the three businesses is a possibility based on what suits the market, explains Harris’ wife, Sandra Allen, Kitty Hawk’s CFO. She joined the team 19 years ago and the couple has been married the last 12.
“No store is exactly the same,” Harris adds.
The formula for success, on the other hand, is.
That includes recruiting great people, especially a manager that can lead with autonomy. “Ideally, it’s someone from within our company who can run a store independently and make decisions on day-to-day issues. Managers need to really care.”
Across the company there are about 150 full-time employees, and the staff roster escalates to 450 during the busy season, which is May through September, with peak months of June to August.
Proud to wear
As Kitty Hawk Kites’ brands expanded, so did the product mix. Aligning with location as a deciding factor for growth, Harris says most apparel is namedrop because the stores are in destination locations.
Outdoor enthusiasts can grab their beachy apparel from Kitty Hawk Kites.
“Any visitor would be proud to wear an Outer Banks T-shirt, a Beaufort hoodie or any namedrop of our locations,” says Harris. He sources the high-quality and graphic designs from vendors including Lakeshirts, Artforms, High Winds and Bau.
In fact, customers seek out logoed gear from across apparel categories, from caps to sweatshirts. “In the last few years, crewneck sweatshirts have been trending and they have been outselling hoodies,” observes Harris.
Kitty Hawk also drops its own name on apparel and gear to appeal to guests who recognize the brand or enjoy an adventure experience.
“Jewelry is a great impulse item,” adds Harris. So are magnets, stickers, shot glasses and keychains with namedrop designs.
Harris says most of the inventory buying happens at surf, gift and souvenir shows.
As for displays, products in and of themselves are a presentation. Guests look up at a rainbow of kites and flying fare, including “crazy character” sea creatures meant to decorate the sky upon launch. “We create a floor plan for each location with fixturing that makes products easy to merchandise and presents products well,” says Harris.
Children’s toys like frisbees, juggling bean bags, moon balls, frisbees, disc golf sets and “anything that flies” are stocked to mesmerize. One favorite is Surfer Dudes, a surfboard toy with a weighted bottom so it bobs and catches waves when thrown into the ocean.
While the kids eyeball beach fun goodies, adults can grab gifts, vacation clothing and kites.
Allen says, “Inside the store, you overhear people talk about how much fun it is to find something different around every corner.” And those who experience the hang gliding school share how it has changed their lives. “Seeing the happiness it brings people and how it changes their lives is really rewarding,” she says.
Just go grab a kite
As Kitty Hawk Kites’ brands have soared, so has the company’s capacity to give back and serve as an ambassador and supporter of the hang gliding community. Last October, it hosted the eighth annual OBX Brewtag where contestants compete to see who can launch and fly an empty sixth-keg barrel the farthest.
The big idea behind the fundraiser is to open a hang gliding museum in Nags Head. The event supports the Rogallo Foundation and has raised more than $70,000 for the future landmark.
Francis Rogallo, a NASA engineer, and his wife Gertrude, invented the self-inflating Rogallo Flexikite that transformed aviation and introduced hang gliding, paragliding and more.
Both the Kitty Hawk Kites and Life is Good branding sell well for the business.
Kitty Hawk Kites installed a Rogallo History wall at its flagship location and was inspired to take this history piece to the next level. Harris says he hopes to nail down a property for the museum within a year and will seek grants and supplemental funding.
As for the event, the anticipated and jovial October day is much like the first-in-flight moment Harris experienced when he finally launched his mail-order hang glider.
Kitty Hawk Kites also engages the community with a variety of events and homegrown gatherings that are as festive as its flying machines.
And Harris and Allen pursue their own joy of flying — kites, and now 52 years later, small aircraft is involved, too. “You can create a beautiful artscape in the sky with kites,” Harris says, naming a 100-foot-long octopus and “huge cow we fly” among the ensemble.
They invite other kite flyers across the country to join them. “It’s beautiful, the kids go crazy and the adults do, too,” says Harris. “It’s just really fanciful.”
So is business as Harris and management continue stocking excitement and preparing a crew that can fly solo so he and Allen can eventually do more traveling — a predicament when operating stores across the seaboard.
And, if given any opportunity, Harris will “just go grab a kite.”
