Surf and swim retailer South Moon Under debuts two new stores in the Garden State

by Jessica Jones-Gorman

Frank Gunion was just a college student during the summer of 1968 when he opened a small surf shack in Ocean City, Maryland, and started selling swimwear and surfboards. It was his escape, the now-veteran retailer said, from the world’s then-tumultuous political climate—much easier selling bikinis and board wax than studying international relations at George Washington University. But after a few years at the beach, business started to grow and Gunion’s South Moon Under became famous for picking up brands like Billabong, Quicksilver, and Levi’s. Today, the business has evolved into an upscale clothing retailer with 24 locations along the East Coast—and two new stores in New Jersey are making big waves for Gunion’s smallish franchise.

“We’ve gotten very warm welcomes in both locations,” noted Gage Lester, vice president of sales and marketing for South Moon Under, speaking of the company’s latest openings (one at The Grove in Shrewsbury, the other in Princeton).

“The Grove is a great center, a really high-density market with great foot traffic and a lot of seasonal visitors, and we had been looking at Princeton for years because it simply makes sense with the cluster of stores we have in Philadelphia, South New Jersey, and Wayne [Pennsylvania].”

The South Moon Under store at the Grove—ten minutes from downtown Red Bank and neighboring businesses like Anthropologie, Athleta, Bluemercury, Free People, J. Crew, Lululemon Athletica, Starbucks, and Potterybarn—debuted on March 5 while the store in Princeton opened April 16. Lester says shoppers seem pleased with both retail additions.

“We now have six stores in the state, and as with the rest of our locations in New Jersey, people are really warming to what the brand is all about,” Lester said. “The company began as a surf shop and then expanded into other fashions, but we still thrive on that sort of resort ethos and infrastructure. We sell swim all year round, so we are a big destination before travel, but customers also visit us to purchase all types of pieces that fall into the surf culture style. Our brand equity and market presence is really starting to resonate with customers throughout the state.”

Still privately owned, South Moon Under offers a unique mix of fashions while remaining true to a laid back and free spirited mindset that informed the original store over 40 years ago. (“The primary reason for existence, why we get up every day, is we are here to provide what I call the art of fashion for our customers so they can have fun with it,” Gunion explained to the Washington Post.)

Brand dynamism began sometime in the early 1970s when Gunion purchased 1,000 pairs of Levi 505 jeans and instructed his staff to take the stiff, unwashed denim to a commercial Laundromat and prewash them until they were soft and bleached. The jeans sold out within a week.

“We’ve always been fashion forward,” Lester said, “…built on the swim and surf philosophy, but also aware of and on top of the latest trends. I know every retailer says they’re all about customer service, too, but we really stress a very personal experience for customers. We aim to assist on every level— whether it be really hands on or just some simple advice.”

There’s now a collection of over 400 vendors for customers to choose from. “We get new merchandise five days a week,” Lester said. “It’s very common for people to return frequently because our selection is constantly turning over. Our goal is to always offer something new while also providing diversity—we have something for everyone.”

South Moon Under
The Grove at Shrewsbury / 611 Route 35 / 732.852.2152
Marketfair in Princeton / 3535 US Highway 1 / 609.608.7014
southmoonunder.com