Coastal Souvenirs: Giving into ‘pier’ pressure

While T-shirts and sweatshirts are top sellers, fudge brings people in the door.

For Delores Rogers, T-shirts pay the rent at Pier Gift Shop in Virginia Beach, Virginia, but it’s not just the T-shirts that get her out of bed every day doing what she’s been doing for the last 40-plus years as a gift shop owner.

“I just love retail. You have to love retail to do this,” says Rogers. “It just gets my adrenaline going.”

Rogers didn’t know retail would be the profession to steal her heart until her husband broke the news to her.
“I came home one day, and my husband said, ‘You’re going to be in the gift shop business.’ And I didn’t know anything about retail. I was a hairdresser, and I had a life back then before retail,” she quips.

But with the help of dear friends such as Elkan Lachman, who was not only a groomsman in their wedding but also owned the Virginia Beach Fishing Pier, Rogers started down the path of becoming a retail guru.
“And little by little and a lot by making errors, I started to do well,” she admits.

A bestseller is born

“When we opened the garage door, rust would fall on our heads,” she recalls. “The first thing I did was call the glass company and have them come out and do the whole front of the store with glass, so we let in a lot of light.”

Pier Gift Shop offers the Virginia Beach name drop on merchandise, including hats.

Photos: Don Monteaux

The previous owners warned Rogers she wouldn’t sell any T-shirts, but she ignored their insistence and ordered two lines. Ironically, Rogers now points to T-shirts as her bestselling item with the runner-up being sweatshirts.

Next, Rogers turned her attention to seashells, seeking out vendors she could drive to and pick up from because of the sky-high cost of shipping them. While the seashells are still among her bestsellers, they have since found a home of their own in a second space Rogers opened on the pier called Shells Shells.

And just like that, Rogers found her calling. She began adding different kinds of merchandise ranging from lamps and throws to beach supplies and apparel and everything in between. And business was great, until it hit a “slump” about 12 to 15 years ago. Rogers went in search of something else to breathe life back into her cherished gift shop.

“One of my vendors said, ‘Well, my uncle sells Calico [Cottage] fudge and he does very well with it. It’s not a huge investment and the profit margin is great,’” Rogers says. “We sell a lot of fudge now. People sometimes come in and they just buy fudge. But it brings a lot more people into the store because after all these years, people know that we have this wonderful fudge. And I guess you would say the rest is kind of history.”

Today, chocolate peanut butter is the favorite among customers in a pool of 12 to choose from — all lovingly made by one employee. Micki Sheppard inherited the role from twins Peggy and Patty Hines after they were unable to continue for health reasons. While Patty has retired from the store, Peggy remains one of eight loyal employees of the gift shop.

From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the team hustles through the shop overlooking the Atlantic Ocean while the breeze turns the wind spinners hung outside the shop and rattles the flip flops on racks outside the front door.

“If you begrudge something, you don’t enjoy your job, and that reflects in everything you do. I love retail. I love all aspects of it.” — Dolores Rogers

Inside, merchandise is organized by category, such as dog lovers, women’s purses, home decor, beach necessities, souvenirs, children’s items, jewelry, candy and of course — Elvis?

Rogers, a devoted Elvis fan herself, notes she’s been selling Elvis mugs, beanies, shot glasses, ornaments, plush, picture frames and books for more than 20 years and not just a little bit. Unsure why it’s been such an attraction all these years other than to point to an old Elvis convention that used to be hosted in Virginia Beach, Rogers notes she’s always tickled when young children come in asking for memorabilia because “their grandma told them all about Elvis.”

For those who aren’t as fascinated by the King of Rock and Roll, there’s still much to choose from with over 3,000 name brands featured within the shop.

Among the favorite vendors are Simply Southern, Premier Kites & Designs, Sea Dog T-shirts, Laid-Back apparel, Bay Pointe sweatshirts, Laurel Burch, P. Graham Dunn and a local favorite — Forbes Candies Salt Water Taffy, which is made in Virginia Beach.

Ever the optimist

Pier Gift Shop merchandise ranges from lamps to throws to beach supplies.

Although COVID hit her hard like every other small business owner, nothing hit her quite like the 1989 Greekfest riots that erupted in the streets of the oceanside town. Whether overzealous police were to blame or tensions were running high throughout the country regarding race at the time, an angry crowd of more than 100,000 young people turned on the businesses in Virginia Beach and began destroying storefronts up and down Atlantic Avenue.

Rogers explains that Pier Gift Shop was saved because there was a gate that deterred foot traffic, but another store she owned at the time on Atlantic Avenue took a beating.

“They had thrown the whole case out onto Atlantic Avenue. It was just like diamonds glittering everywhere,” she recalls. “And I just sat down in the middle of Atlantic Avenue and cried.”

But the memory doesn’t shake her long, as the upbeat Rogers pops back into her ever-positive attitude, noting: “But other than those two instances, I think that’s pretty good for 40-some years.”

Pier Gift Shop merchandise ranges from lamps to throws to beach supplies.

She encourages those who have a knack for retail to visit trade shows for inspiration when it comes to merchandising and to pore through catalogs and magazines for even more ideas.

She cautions that although the demands of the job are physical at times, it’s a small price to pay for a career.
“We’re privileged to do this,” she says. “Sometimes I might be tired, but that’s just physical. If you begrudge something, you don’t enjoy your job, and that reflects in everything you do. I love retail. I love all aspects of it.”

Rogers notes one of her biggest passions is working on displays which is also one of her best talents. She adds that buying items for the gift shop always invigorates her. As far as retirement, don’t bother asking. The word doesn’t exist in her vocabulary.