The founding father of Ron Jon Surf Store, Ron DiMenna, died on Sept 6, the corporate introduced Sunday. He was 88 years previous.
DiMenna based the corporate by promoting surfboards from the trunk of his automotive in 1959. He opened a small Ron Jon Surf Store in 1961 on Lengthy Seaside Island on the New Jersey Shore. Two years later, he moved to Florida and opened a small Ron Jon surf shack with a dust flooring at Canaveral Pier.
Right now, the lifestyle-apparel and board-sports-equipment retailer has shops in seven areas in Florida, together with Cocoa Seaside and Key West, along with its unique location in New Jersey. There are extra shops in Maryland, Alabama and South Carolina.
Ron Jon Surf Store in Cocoa Seaside.
It is grow to be an East Coast browsing legend — its emblem noticed on bumper stickers and t-shirts worldwide. Billed because the world’s largest surf store, Ron Jon’s 52,000-square foot Cocoa Seaside flagship megastore on State Street A1A has grow to be a significant vacationer attraction itself.
“Ron was often known as a free spirit and his love for the seaside and the game of browsing endured all through his life,” Michele Goodwin, president of Ron Jon Surf Store mentioned in an announcement. “He lived life on his personal phrases and created a retail empire that is still probably the most profitable seaside purchasing locations within the nation.”
“All the Ron Jon household mourns this loss. On behalf of our Board of Administrators, administration crew and staff, we lengthen our deepest sympathy to Ron’s spouse, Lynne DiMenna,” the corporate mentioned.
Ron Jon mentioned that DiMenna’s aim was to convey browsing to the plenty, and he acknowledged early that browsing and the seaside captivated individuals in all places. Collectively together with his spouse, DiMenna additionally based Browsing’s Evolution & Preservation Basis, a nonprofit that helps organizations that work to guard the well being of Florida’s seashores and tackle points equivalent to coastal air pollution and seaside ecology. It raises cash by means of the sale of the Countless Summer season specialty license plate.
“Ron’s imaginative and prescient and legacy will dwell on for generations by means of Ron Jon Surf Store and Browsing’s Evolution & Preservation Basis,” Goodwin mentioned.
This text initially appeared on Florida Right now: Ron Jon Surf Store founder dies at age 88
