BOTE, a water sports shop featuring standup paddleboards, is scheduled to open this summer in an area not normally associated with traditional surf shops: Jacksonville’s Riverside neighborhood.
The shop is at 2655 Park St., near Park and King streets. It is in the former Timed Exercise fitness center site.
Though it may not be near the Beaches, the Riverside location is part of the company’s strategy to seek a customer base well beyond the coastline, said Rob McAbee, creative brand director for BOTE.
In addition to paddleboards, BOTE sells kayaks, floating inflatable docks, chairs, tables and other accessories.
It is not a surf shop and does not sell traditional surfboards.
“I would consider us a water lifestyle company,” McAbee said.
“We found that we shipped a lot of product into the Jacksonville area. Breaking down that data and those numbers, it was just reflected that Jacksonville would be a good hub and good activation for us.”
McAbee said the retail space had to meet certain physical requirements since they are moving boards and kayaks well in excess of 10 feet long into the shop.
“We have our own challenges when we look for space due to the size of our product,” McAbee said.
“We need ceiling height. We need square footage, obviously. So, some of those factors figure into the locations that we choose,” he said.
“We pride ourselves in being somewhat of a destination retail shop where people actually come to the store specifically.”
BOTE was founded 13 years ago and started online. It has retail stores in seven cities.
Five of the outlets are in Florida: Fort Lauderdale, Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Grayton Beach and St. Petersburg. There is also a store in Austin, Texas.
BOTE, which also has distribution in Australia, relies heavily on online sales. The products are made in China.
McAbee declined to share annual revenue figures for the company.
Jacksonville was a logical addition as a market for BOTE, McAbee said.
The shop is near the St. Johns River in a commercial area of Riverside that will be an easy draw for residents there as well as from nearby Avondale, Ortega, San Marco and Springfield.
“There’s a lot of water opportunities to do demonstrations and activations in Jacksonville and get out on the water and show potential customers our product,” said Drew Campbell, general manager of the store.
“Obviously, with the beach, the lakes, the rivers, the springs all around Jacksonville, it’s a great area for BOTE to continue to expand its brand.”
BOTE is leasing the property, which fits its business concept in the 4,000-square-foot unit with 18-foot ceilings.
Campbell said a grand opening may take place in late July or August.
“We’re going to do a lot of demonstrations around Jacksonville and we’ll broadcast that around social media and invite Facebook groups and all that onto the water to try out BOTE products and all that kind of stuff,” Campbell said.
He said the company targets a general customer base instead of just surfers.
Surfing on standup paddleboards in waves can be intimidating. BOTE tends to lean toward a more leisurely pace for enthusiasts who use their products on flat water surfaces such as rivers.
Prices start at about $400 for an inflatable paddleboard to more than $1,000 for more sophisticated watercraft.
McAbee said BOTE intends to avoid being a trend.
“Just like any industry outdoor activity, we’ve had our ebbs and flows of popularity,” said McAbee, who lives on Amelia Island.
“What we try to do at BOTE, which is a little different than our competition, is in broadening the use,” he said.
“We focused on more of the family recreation side of things — expedition, fishing, fitness, those sort of things versus the performance.”
He said BOTE dabbled in surfing and racing paddleboards when the company first started, but the scope was too limited.
The company tries to attract entry-level water enthusiasts and more casual customers who simply want to explore waterways.
“There are applications that might be considered extreme, but that’s not who we sell to. We’ve trended more toward the family that just wants to go down the springs or wants to go out on a lake and have a good time,” McAbee said.