Salty Dog Surf Shop

What Salty Dog Surf Shop does

Salty Dog Surf Shop is a family-owned surf retail business founded in 1978 by Bruce Miller in Daytona Beach, Florida. The company operates three physical retail storefronts in Florida (Daytona Beach headquarters and original 1978 location, Ormond Beach, and Panama City Beach) and a direct-to-consumer e-commerce website at saltydogsurfshop.com. Its core offering consists of branded surf-culture lifestyle merchandise — including t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, hats, stickers, mugs, tumblers, koozies, totes, youth apparel, and pet apparel — alongside surfboard rentals (soft-top boards only) and wetsuit rentals at the Daytona Beach store. Customers are beach tourists and Florida locals, including both experienced surfers and first-time beginners seeking short-term equipment access.

Name

Salty Dog Surf Shop

Legal name

Bruce Miller (Salty Dog Surf Shop)

Website

https://saltydogsurfshop.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Family-owned surf retail business founded in 1978 in Daytona Beach, Florida, operating three Florida beach storefronts and a Squarespace e-commerce site, selling branded surf apparel, accessories, and surfboard/wetsuit rentals to beach tourists and locals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Surf Apparel and Beach Lifestyle Retail

NAICS

Sporting Goods Retailers (45911)

SIC

Retail-Apparel & Accessory Stores (5600)

akta.pro primary industry

Surf & Beach Sports Retail (Surfboards, Bodyboards, Skimboards) (CRAMAIAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Marine Recreation Rentals & Tours Retail Counter (On-site Sales) (CRAMAIAM), Swim & Surf Performance Wear (CRAAAEAG), Marine Apparel & Footwear Retail (Wetsuits, Rash Guards, Deck Shoes) (CRAMAIAJ)

Keywords

• Surf apparel retail
• Beach lifestyle merchandise
• Surfboard rentals
• Florida surf shop
• Tourist beach retail

Headquarters

HQ city

Daytona Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Retail merchandise sales: Sale of branded surf apparel, accessories, stickers, hats, sweatshirts, t-shirts, youth clothing, mugs, tumblers, and other beach lifestyle merchandise through physical storefronts and e-commerce website.
2. Board and equipment rentals: Surfboard rentals (soft top boards only) and wetsuit rentals for day use. Pricing tiers: 6 hours ($25), open to close ($30), 24 hours ($40), wetsuit rental ($15).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Salty Dog Surf Shop operates a family-owned chain of three Florida surf retail stores (Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach, Panama City Beach) and an e-commerce website selling branded surf apparel, accessories, stickers, mugs, tumblers, hats, sweatshirts, t-shirts, youth clothing, and dog apparel. The Daytona Beach flagship also rents soft-top surfboards and wetsuits on a 6-hour, full-day, or 24-hour basis to beachgoers and tourists.

Product overview

Salty Dog Surf Shop is a family-owned surf retail business offering a unified merchandise platform with a primary e-commerce store supplemented by physical retail locations. The product portfolio centers on surf culture lifestyle merchandise including branded apparel (t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, youth clothing), accessories (stickers, mugs, tumblers, koozies), and pet apparel (dog tees and bandanas). The company also operates a surf board rental service offering soft top boards by the hour or day. Three physical store locations serve customers in Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach, and Panama City Beach, Florida. The brand is built around surf culture and the Salty Dog mascot dog, with merchandise featuring various artistic designs inspired by the shop's history dating back to 1978.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Surfboard Rentals Soft-top surfboard rental service offered at the Daytona Beach store, with tiered 6-hour, open-to-close, and 24-hour rental options for beachgoers, tourists, and surf beginners.
• Wetsuit Rentals Per-item wetsuit rental service at $15, supporting surfboard renters and tourists who need thermal gear for a day at the beach.
• T-Shirts Branded t-shirts featuring surf-inspired designs including SD Surf Naked, SD Sunset Wave, Oval Lone Salty, Original Beard, SD Rusty, Pencil Sketch, and America's 250th! patriotic designs. Priced from $23.99.
• Sweatshirts and Hoodies Hoodies, crewnecks, and long sleeve shirts featuring Salty Dog branding and surf-themed designs, priced up to $39.99 (SD Hoodie, SD Crewneck).
• Hats Trucker hats and caps including SD Diamond Hat, Salty Dog Shop Hat, Surf Naked Trucker Hat, Grizzle Bear Trucker Hat, and Crazy Tommy Trucker Hat, priced from $15.99.
• Stickers Decorative stickers in various Salty Dog designs including stickers, mini stickers, sticker packs, and specialty designs like SD Dog Head, SD Groovy Bus, and Wave Dog. Priced from $0.99 (mini stickers) to $6.99.
• Youth Apparel Children's clothing and accessories including youth t-shirts (Manatee Salty Youth, Shark Salty Youth, Cool Hand Salty Youth) and children's items like Tie Dye Sippy Cup, priced at $19.99.
• Dog Apparel Pet apparel featuring Salty Dog branding for dogs, including Salty Dog Dog Tee and SD Dog Bandana, leveraging the brand's labradoodle mascot identity.
• Accessories Various branded accessories including mugs ($8.99), tumblers ($23.99), koozies, totes, license plate covers, and temporary tattoos.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sun Diego Boardshop: Multi-store Southern California surf/action sports retailer selling surf apparel, wetsuits, boardshorts and accessories. Comparable specialty surf retailer business model with physical retail + e-commerce DTC channel structure.
• Surf Style: Florida-based surf and beach lifestyle retailer with multiple storefronts in Florida tourist destinations (Cocoa Beach, Clearwater, etc.). Sells surf apparel, accessories, swimwear and beach gear; competes in the same Florida tourist beach retail category as Salty Dog.
• Ron Jon Surf Shop: Largest US surf shop chain with flagship stores in Cocoa Beach, FL and other tourist beach markets. Sells surfboards, apparel, accessories and operates board rentals; directly comparable multi-store Florida tourist-beach retail model with broader scale.

Broad incumbents

• Hurley: Surf-inspired apparel and accessories brand (Nike-owned) selling boardshorts, tees, hats and wetsuits. Comparable surf-lifestyle apparel/accessories assortment and target demographic to Salty Dog's branded merchandise.
• Billabong: Global surf apparel and accessories brand under Boardriders. Sells boardshorts, wetsuits, tees and surf accessories through DTC and wholesale; overlaps Salty Dog's apparel/accessory categories with much larger brand reach.
• Rip Curl: Australian surf brand selling wetsuits, boardshorts, rashguards, tees and search/surf gear globally. Directly competes with Salty Dog on wetsuit rentals and surf apparel/accessories, with established brand authority and product breadth.
• Quiksilver: Iconic global surf apparel and accessories brand owned by Boardriders. Competes in the same surf-lifestyle apparel category as Salty Dog's branded tees, hats and sweatshirts, but at vastly broader scale through wholesale and DTC channels.

Others

• South Beach Symmetry: Florida beach lifestyle apparel/accessory brand with a similar mascot- and surf-culture-driven marketing approach. Adjacent competitor in Florida beach tourist apparel/merchandise category; comparable target customer but smaller footprint.

Regional players

• Hawaiian Island Surf & Sport: Long-running Hawaii-based surf retailer selling surf apparel, accessories and rental equipment. Same multi-store independent surf retailer model with regional tourist-beach focus; does not compete directly in Florida but exemplifies comparable operating format.

Emerging players

• Ocean Pacific (OP): Heritage California surf lifestyle brand selling apparel and accessories through wholesale and DTC. Smaller and more niche than Quiksilver/Billabong but overlaps Salty Dog's vintage/retro surf apparel positioning with national distribution.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/saltydogsurfshop
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/salty-dog-surf-shop

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Salty Dog Surf Shop