South End Outfitters is the go-to for outdoor activities and high-end resort apparel in Topsail Beach.

With the majority of us taking advantage of the healthy air in the great outdoors nowadays, South End Outfitters is poised as a welcoming site on Topsail Island. The popular pitstop is not only a coastal lifestyle retail store, but also a hub for renting water sports and beach equipment and reserving one of their fishing services.

Cheryl Price and her husband, Jeff, opened the doors to South End Outfitters in 2014.

“We felt like there was a void in our area,” Cheryl says. “Before, you would have to drive over an hour to get any of products that we offer.”

The store’s inventory includes upscale men’s and women’s apparel, accessories, gifts and equipment from top outdoor brands, such as Peter Millar, Southern Tide, Gretchen Scott, Maui Jim, Tommy Bahama, Faherty, YETI, Vineyard Vines, Costa and more.

“It’s just like a well-curated collection of resort wear and fishing equipment, plus beach stuff, children’s items and rentals,” Cheryl says. “We created a place where we would want to shop for some of my favorites, like dresses for island living.”

She says they designed South End Outfitters as a complement to the couple’s restaurant and other retail store located across the street, Beach Shop & Grill, which they’ve run for 19 years. In business since 1952, the restaurant with a gift shop attached to it sells wine, wine accessories, serving platters, gifts, candles and home accents.

Jeff, originally from Rocky Mount, and Cheryl, from Winston-Salem, met in Wilmington and have always been involved the food and hospitality industry. The newlyweds bought Beach Shop & Grill after they were married.

“We love what we do and like to travel quite a bit and bring home new ideas for the restaurant and the retail stores,” Cheryl says.

That passion for the business is reflected back in the positive feedback they’ve received on South End Outfitters.

“A lot of people that come down for weddings or family events and gatherings and reunions are happy that we’re here to provide high-end resort wear,” she says.

Cheryl says the store is known by its unofficial mascots, her trio of English and French bulldogs, who will often join her at her side.

“People love to come in and see the dogs,” she says. “So much so that they’ll call ahead, or if the dogs aren’t there when they come to shop, they’re like, ‘But we came here to see the dogs!’”

Cheryl says that’s why she and Jeff love living in Topsail Beach: because it’s such a warm and caring community that is family-oriented and dog-friendly.

“When our family comes to visit, they always say that living here is like being on permanent vacation,” she says. “Jeff and I have always been beach people, and there is nothing more soothing for the soul than living on the beach. I could not think of a better place to live and work.”

The large, 4,000-square-foot South End Outfitters retail store, staffed by five staff members, is laid out to accommodate a safe social-distancing shopping experience.

Rentals available include pickleball sets, bicycles, surfboards, standup paddleboards, kayaks (single, fishing or tandem) and beach umbrellas by the hour, four hours, day or weeklong.

South End Outfitters’ professional fishing services include shallow-water flats, inshore and nearshore fishing charters in half-day, three-quarter-day or full-day time increments.

Want to go?

South End Outfitters

627 S. Anderson Boulevard, Topsail Beach

southendoutfitters.com.

Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 10 am to 5 pm

Friday and Saturday, 10 am to 7 pm

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