About K Coast Surf Shop

K-Coast Surf Shop first opened its doors over eighteen years ago in the spring of 1989 on Somerset Street in downtown Ocean City. During that first summer, the tiny 600 square foot shop was originally called Kookaburra Coast, named after the Australian Kingfisher bird. Now you know what the "K" stands for!! The shop and its resources, like the Kookaburra, were tiny, but the plans for it were huge in the minds of two surfers and best friends that had met while bussing tables at Phillips Crab House in 1982.

After a cold and hungry winter, yet still optimistic, Mark and Chris, with their cars as collateral, secured a small loan to take advantage of the opportunity to move the shop to a larger location across the street into what was the original Ocean City Post Office. The new location, at the corner of Somerset Street and Baltimore Avenue, with its name shortened to K-Coast, started to gain a loyal downtown clientele and became known for its rootsy appeal with Mark, Chris and Mark's mom as the only employees and a surfboard shaping room in the back. Bartending to make ends meet and always with the goal of having a location on Coastal Highway, the boys spied an opportunity when an old carpet shop went up for lease on 78th Street in the fall of 1990. The 78th Street location was a dream come true but needed to be completely gutted and also forced the pair to become landlords as they had to rent out the upstairs apartment to help meet the rent and hopefully make it all work.

Business at the 78th Street location grew steadily, slowly taking over the entire building by 1995 as the need for more retail space was needed. In 1992, Mark "Hairball" Harrell, a local standout surfer joined the staff and would eventually become the K-Coast General manager. In order to concentrate on the demands of the growing highway location, the downtown location was closed in 1996. K-Coast grew steadily during the mid to late nineties and established itself as "Maryland's Largest Surf Shop" with the largest selection of surfboards, skateboards, bodyboards and hardgoods found in the Mid-Atlantic. As many of the older surf shops in Ocean City went out of business for one reason or another in the 1990's, K-Coast was now one of the oldest established shops currently in business.

By 1999, Mark and Chris could see the time coming soon when the amount of customers was outstripping the size of the 78th Street shop. Later that year K-Coast signed a contract to purchase a half acre parcel at 36th Street in Ocean City. In July of 2005 the new 10,000 square foot flagship store was opened making it one of the largest surf shops in the United States. Whether you're at 78th or 35th Street, both shops are only a two minute walk from the door to the surf.