FENWICK ISLAND – Quiet Storm is looking to fill a void in the local community by opening a sporting goods store in combination with surfing gear at a new Fenwick Island location.
Quiet Storm Surf and Turf will be opening on Feb. 1 in Fenwick Island at the former Ruddo’s Golf location on the east side of Coastal Hwy.
Quiet Storm Surf and Turf will sell both sports equipment, specializing in lacrosse, as well as surf apparel. It will be Quiet Storm’s second location selling lacrosse apparel and equipment. Currently, Quiet Storm Lacrosse is located in the White Marlin Mall in West Ocean City, which opened in early June.
Quiet Storm owner Bill Dreibelbis started out his business endeavor owning sporting goods stores in the Annapolis and Baltimore area from 1978 to 1985.
It was when he moved to the beach in 1983 that he decided he was going to take on the surfing realm and opened a surf shop on 75th Street, which eventually led to the Quiet Storm Surf Shop.
Quiet Storm Surf Shop has been serving a wide range of customers since 1984. It offers a wide variety of surfboards, skateboards, clothing and accessories for men, women and kids. Quiet Storm carries all brands of surf brands including Quiksilver, Billabong, Volcom, Reef, Rainbow, Roxy, Oneill, Element, Hurley, Free People, RVCA, Sanuk and UGG. They also carries a huge variety of sunglasses, sandals, wetsuits, rashguards, and shoes.
Currently, Quiet Storm locations can be found on the Boardwalk at N. Division St. and on 75th St. and Coastal Hwy. in Ocean City, two locations in Rehoboth, as well as in Hilton Head, N.C., and now Quiet Storm Lacrosse in West Ocean City.
“I got married a few years ago and both of the boys played lacrosse, so I started to get back into it a little bit. In seeing what was going on, and never was happy with the clothes that these guys were wearing … I was inspired to do our own stuff,” Dreibelbis said.
Quiet Storm now carries its own sports apparel line.
“We have a lot of our own Quiet Storm Lacrosse designs. We infuse the surfing art using famous surf artists for our sporting designs, so they are a little bit different from the other old school athletic designs. We are excited about this,” Dreibelbis said.
Quiet Storm Surf and Turf will carry its own brand as well as other sporting good brands covering everything from footwear to apparel and equipment for all ages, such as Nike, Under Armor, Fit 2 Win, STX, Warrior, Brine, Maverik, Cascade and more.
Quiet Storm Surf and Turf in Fenwick Island will provide three times more space offering the opportunity to mix sporting goods with surfing fashion, such as Costa Del Mar sunglasses, Salt Life fishing apparel and “preppy surfing apparel” by Southern Tide and Johnnie-O.
“I have always liked that store. Ruddo’s Golf sticks out like a sore thumb, so I decided to give it a try. We needed more space,” Dreibelbis said of deciding to move to Fenwick Island.
Dreibelbis plans to keep the Quiet Storm Lacrosse store open through January until the sporting aspect moves to Fenwick, and at that time the White Marlin Mall location will become a Quiet Storm Outlet.
“Things are going pretty good. I am taking it back to my roots. We will see what happens,” he said.
In addition to providing the local community sports apparel, Dreibelbis also operates the Quiet Storm Surf and Stick Lacrosse Club, which was handed over to him a couple years ago from Steve Pappas of the Greene Turtle.
The Quiet Storm Surf and Stick Lacrosse Club was established through Eastern Shore Lacrosse LLC to offer highly competitive student athletes lacrosse at the next level. The club currently consists of seven teams from U-11 to AA High School with the focus on age specific development.
Quiet Storm Surf and Stick Lacrosse Club coaches are either current or former college coaches and/or have played high level college lacrosse. The coaches focus on coaching current lacrosse strategies and techniques as opposed to what was being taught in the past. The experience that the coaches have not only provides the greatest growth, but it allows college recruiting opportunities through connections and personal experience, according to Dreilbelbis.