Island Water Sports, a South Florida surf-and-skate mainstay that traces its roots to Pompano Beach in the 1970s, has officially returned home with the Saturday grand opening of its fourth retail location – just steps from the Fisher Family Pier.
The shop is hard to miss, on the corner of A1A and Pier Street (NE 2nd Street) at the base of the Pier Garage. The retailer opened the location in May as a “soft open” before holding its grand opening celebration today.
Island Water Sports got its start in Pompano in 1977 by entrepreneur Kirk Cottrell at U.S. 1 and Atlantic Boulevard, before relocating north to a location at A1A in Deerfield Beach. That store – with its hard-to-miss giant stuffed shark crashing through the roof of the building – remains its flagship, with additional locations added in 2020 in Boca Raton and Delray Beach in 2023.
But after nearly a decade of searching for just the right spot in Pompano, co-owner Linsey Cottrell said opening a Pompano Beach store on A1A “feels like coming full circle.”
Cottrell said the retailer’s experience in handling permits and all the details of a new business – made Pompano Beach stand out for its smooth process.
“Pompano has been so proactive and just so excited and so willing to share resources,” she said. “They’re not trying to run you through a gauntlet of red tape. They’re asking how they can help. It’s been a breath of fresh air.”
She credited both the city and the Community Redevelopment Agency for helping expedite the project. “No wonder Pompano’s growing so quickly” she added. “The people leading the charge are great to deal with.”