Retail on the Lake: A special kind of island vibe

Offering visitors a selection of gifts so they can take home a bit of Put-in-Bay is the focus at Home Port, where owners Jason and Chris Cooper cater to island guests with nautical- and cottage-inspired decor.

“Whether people have a summer cottage here or they’re a boater family or visiting for the day, they want to bring some of the island to their year-round home so they can look at it and remember the good times in the summer,” says Jason Cooper, who also owns a few other stores on the Lake Erie island with his brother: The Little Store, which offers jewelry and accessories; Dock 421, a resort apparel shop; and Island Hardware, which includes a grocery section.

“We grew up coming here in summers, and my grandparents had a place here they bought back in the 1950s,” Cooper says of the family’s roots on the island. His parents retired to Put-in-Bay about 20 years ago, and shortly after the Cooper boys bought the local hardware store and relocated to the island from Cleveland, which is about an hour away.

As for Put-in-Bay, it’s often called the Key West of the North — a lively destination on South Bass Island on Lake Erie. Visitors ferry over from the mainland for day trips or week-long stays at one of the island’s hotels, rental homes or bed and breakfasts. From historic sites to a vibrant bar and restaurant scene, the island offers something for everyone, and that includes shopping at retailers like Home Port.

“We carry everything from coasters to wall art, tabletop gifts, quality soaps, decorative pillows and more,” Cooper says of the coastal inventory that targets lake visitors. And that’s different than stocking a shop on the ocean. “We don’t have salt,” he quips. “Navy and red is much more our vibe here — anchors, lighthouses, sailboats.”

Sourcing freshwater finds

When the Coopers scout for products at gift shows, they often find themselves explaining that the typical seaside fare is not necessarily a fit for Home Port. “One of the real challenges we have finding the right items is when we tell someone we are looking for ‘nautical,’ they show you everything with dolphins and crabs and salty this and that,” says Cooper.

“And there are so many that show powder blue and aqua and beachy colors, which there is some taste for here, but navy, white, red and anchors have always been the classic look around here.”

On the other hand, when Cooper says “lake” to a wholesaler, some also show him ‘birch bark canoes and moose. We are not a lodge, we are the Great Lakes.”

Sourcing niche products requires a combination of stocking the classics and mixing in fresh products. “A few years ago, everything had a blue anchor on it and we sold it like crazy, but that ran its course and we had to get creative,” Cooper says. “We can’t have the whole store covered in navy blue anchors.”

So, the Coopers introduced other motifs including life rings, stylized power boats, lighthouses, sailboats and textures like cork and dock line. “We have trivets that look like a big square knot and cork napkin rings that have a universal appeal,” he says.

The shop doesn’t go deep into the lighthouse theme, though they offer coasters and some tabletop items with this popular motif. “There are shops that go full in on lighthouses; we don’t have a collectibles atmosphere,” explains Cooper.

“We don’t have salt. Navy and red is much more our vibe here — anchors, lighthouses, sailboats.” — Jason Cooper

Another factor is portability. “Whether you are going back home on the ferry or on your personal boat, everything is going back by boat so very fragile items do not do well for us and neither do large, awkward products,” Cooper says. “We’ll do a few wall sculptures, but a lot of people look at them and say, ‘Wow. I love it, but I don’t know how I’ll get it home.’”

Items that are easily wrapped and simple to transport are key. For example, the shop sells specialty soaps with decorative soap dishes displayed to entice shoppers to buy both. Smaller wall art pieces are popular, as are candles and tabletop items like coasters and placemats.

Lake love, on display

Overall, Cooper describes Home Port as having “a preppy, nautical vibe,” and the store stands out among retailers on the island by drawing in guests with an ever-changing exterior display. “We focus on larger things you can see from the parking lot like pillows, tote bags — we have a table set up and crates and you can see it from a distance so it encourages people to walk over here,” he says.

Inside, display fixtures are painted white and include antique dressers, tables, shelves and other interesting pieces to showcase home goods. “With tabletop, you want to set up a vignette — something that makes people think, ‘I want to do that in our house,’” says Cooper.

For example, he might position a seagrass table lamp with starfish coasters and a glass sailboat. Candles always complement a display and are fast sellers. Serving pieces and greeting cards are also portable, popular and appealing to Put-in-Bay visitors.

And because Home Port is one of the Cooper’s three gift shops, employees rotate among them and are well-versed in the offerings at the jewelry store, apparel shop and hardware/grocer if guests need some staples while they’re on the island. With Home Port, The Little Shop, Dock 421 and Island Hardware, the Coopers cover all the bases. They capture a range of business with niche-focused shops as opposed to a large store that tries to be everything to everyone. And by casting a wide net with retail opportunities in side-by-side stores, they can capitalize on tourism while it’s in season.

“April is the earliest we take inventory and we aren’t open full-time until Memorial Day,” explains Cooper, who notes that the season runs through Labor Day for the most part and winds down in the fall with weekend store hours. “But during the summer, we are open every day and busy with island visitors, just the way we like it.”