For 45 years, Bethany Surf Shop has been a go-to destination in Bethany Beach, Delaware, for surfing gear, apparel and beach essentials. While much has stayed the same for the surf shop over the years, Kimberly and Jake Neff stepped in as new owners of the store this year.
Jim and Sheila McGrath opened the store in 1980, committed to offering a community surf shop and beach gear for locals and visitors to Bethany Beach. Kimberly Neff says the original owners were “risk takers,” always open to trying new things with the business, from apparel brands to silk screening to testing new locations.
“Jim was a risk taker, and it paid off for him!” she says. “He’d always bring in the newest brands. He tested silk screening T-shirts by himself, and that worked out well for him. He moved locations in 2003 to a store three times bigger, and that paid off too. He was a pioneer in the surf industry, and he tried all the new things.”
The McGraths might have taken risks over the years, but Neff adds that they also liked to plan ahead. The husband-and-wife team had planned to retire in 2024 and wanted to make sure they found the perfect fit for new ownership when they stepped away. Neff says they first approached her about becoming the new owner in 2019 after she graduated from George Washington University.
“I first started at Bethany Surf Shop in 2010 when I was 15 and had worked there every summer, all year-round while in high school. So when I graduated college and was a year out, Jim and Sheila asked me if I would want to buy the store,” Neff explains, adding that she agreed and would love the opportunity. “They proposed a five-year plan to transition ownership. Every year, they handed over more responsibility, so nothing was shell shocking!”
While the McGraths still pop into the store often, Neff and her husband Jake are now sole owners of the longstanding Bethany Surf Shop. She says it’s been an honor to take over the business, and she always appreciates advice she gets from the McGraths.
“My goals are the same – to take risks and bring in new products, try new things tech wise and streamline the shop,” she says. “As far as customers are concerned, I hope they see this as the same old surf shop. I don’t tell a lot of people that I bought it. I want them to have familiarity, that they are welcomed back. This place is like a family tradition, and I want things to keep moving in honor and legacy that they did far before I came along.”
