Surf's Up
Story by Josh Baldwin
Photos by Mary Baldwin
Walk into Lewisburg Surf Shop in downtown Lewisburg and you’ll be greeted by a barrage of primary and neon colors, beaming from books, candles, shirts, vases, and woven baskets. No board shorts, long boards, surf wax, or Rainbow flip flops—the staples of traditional surf shops. Instead, this tongue-in-cheek named fashion boutique, planted in the middle of land locked West Virginia, was inspired by the 1980s Fiorucci stores in Milan and New York.
“The concept of the Fiorucci store was that they had their private brand, but they also featured a number of smaller designers as well,” says Meredith German, founder of Lewisburg Surf Shop along with her husband Ross. “It was like a disco all day long, just a happening place to be.”
“It’s all about brand assortment,” adds Ross. “There are these boutiques in Italy all located in the middle of nowhere, but they are there and people flock to them because they offer a different experience.”
Located in the newly developed Stratton Alley section of Lewisburg, the shop is in some ways an ode to Meredith’s West Virginia childhood, mixed with the couple’s history in the New York fashion scene. “The original thought was to start making things we grew up with here in West Virginia and then tweaking them a little bit,” explains Meredith. “We work with local artisans to bring in these classic techniques and crafts, and then add our spin on it to make them a little more forward fashionable.”
A great example of this type of collaboration would be with Jamit! Baskets, the Pickaway based basket making couple Mike and Judy McDade, who have been weaving baskets for close to thirty years. Meredith and Ross create specific color schemes and provide extra materials like climbing rope to create a “wackier version” of the traditional basket. The baskets make great travel or shopping totes and have become a best seller for the store over recent weeks.
The Germans were 20-plus-year New Yorkers until Covid began to rear its ugly head in early 2020. Co-Owners of the high-end fashion brand Bienen Davis, the 1931-born handbag company which they helped resurrect in 2017, the couple were making waves in the fashion world, with the likes of Lizzo and Billie Eilish donning their work at red carpet events. But once Covid shut down New York City, the Germans were looking to get somewhere with some more space, and so they relocated to Meredith’s childhood home and bedroom, which was still intact in her grandmother’s house just as she left it in high school.
As days turned into weeks and weeks into months, the Germans accepted the fact they were here at least through the summer. Before long, they were making friends and helping with some local non-profits.
“After the fall we kind of looked at each other and just knew,” says Meredith. “We closed our Manhattan offices and moved the entire company here to Lewisburg.” “And in that process, we had this little idea that maybe we could run our design studio in the back of this space and have a fun little boutique in the front,” adds Ross.
And that’s exactly what happened. Ross immediately began working on some of the store’s signature t-shirts with slogans like “Ronceverte is French for Greenbrier” and its companion piece “Greenbrier est Anglais pour Ronceverte.” “We sourced all the t-shirts from vintage dead stock from the 1970s and 1980s,” Ross says, “so they already have this broken in feel to them. In a sense, each is a one-of-a-kind.”
One of the more visibly prominent brands Lewisburg Surf Shop carries is Ortigia. Meredith says that one of her fondest memories is shopping at the Crabtree & Evelyn store at The Greenbrier. The packaging was so beautiful that she didn’t want to throw it away. Ortigia is actually the brainchild of Sue Townsend, one of the founders of Crabtree & Evelyn, who retired to Italy in the 2000s and founded the new company. Ortigia’s scents, whether they be perfume, candles, or soaps, are all organic and sourced from the flora of Tuscany and Sicily.
And, of course, the packaging is so nice no one wants to throw it away. “The goal of the shop is for you to not leave without finding something to take home,” explains Ross. “The idea is to make everyone who walks in here feel comfortable, and still have a luxury shopping experience. So, we have one-dollar super balls and stickers, all the way up to $950 leather jackets.”
The leather jacket Ross speaks of is no regular leather jacket, though. These are Schott jackets, the company from New Jersey that made the original leather motorcycle jacket back in the 1930s, made in the same place today. Aside from leather jackets, Schott goods at Lewisburg Surf Shop include wool shirt jackets (shackets) and wonderfully detailed Grateful Dead sweaters in the cooler months.
The Lewisburg Surf Shop loves good vintage design with great stories. Like their collection of Hammies, the corduroy surf shorts from the 1980s that Magnum PI wore. Then there are also the fun, pop art brands, like Gumball Poodle socks, which feature funny little sayings like “I’m old and everything hurts.”
And then there are the Blenko (the world-famous glass factory in Milton, WV) pieces, many of which are artist proofs, so they are one-of-a-kind. This is when the artists are working towards a more formal idea, so the colors and forms are always new and fresh.
Lewisburg Surf Shop key chains are made out of actual fishing lures. Meredith says the creations were inspired by when her uncle would stop by Aide’s Discount Store for their extensive fishing lure department before heading out on the river to fish. She would be fascinated by all these shiny, sparkling, meticulous lures and brought that experience to her own shop now that the keychains are crafted in-house.
In a weird, only-in-West Virginia kind of way, the shop started carrying a popular sandal company called Gurkees. “A colleague of mine in New York always had these awesome handmade sandals called Gurkees,” remembers Meredith, “and once when we were on a buying trip to Italy I found a pair at a shop in Florence. They were one of the first brands we wanted to carry for the Surf Shop and when I looked up the number I noticed it had a 304 area code, and I was like, “What? This company is here in West Virginia?!” And it turns out they are handmade in Morgantown and so that was a no-brainer for us!”
Lewisburg Surf Shop carries a number of other great brands like Assouline and Taschen coffee table books, Red Wing boots, Akila eyewear, and real Vintage 501 Levis. But the store really shines when it celebrates its design ethos with its smaller offerings, such as Hillier Bartley’s iconic paper clip earrings, original scented soaps from local T.L. Soaps, or the aforementioned fishing lure keychains.
“One of our goals is to help create a cut and sew factory here in West Virginia so that we can make t-shirts, tote bags, and other accessories right here in-state,” says Meredith. In the meantime, the store continues to grow its online presence, attracting buyers from all over the world. “I think the big hope is that Lewisburg Surf Shop can operate as a larger brand online,” notes Ross, “and while showcasing all of these other curated brands and pieces, we still have our own private label stuff.”
If in Lewisburg, make sure to check out their flagship store in Stratton Alley (off the City National Bank parking lot) or their large online offerings at lewisburgsurfshop.com
