Ron Jon Surf Shop is a surfer-style retail store chain founded in 1959 in Ship Bottom, New Jersey by Ron DiMenna. "The Original" Ron Jon Surf Shop opened in Long Beach Island, New Jersey in 1961. The store specializes in

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

and

bodyboarding Bodyboarding is a water sports, water sport in which the surfing, surfer rides a bodyboard on the crest, face, and curl of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore. Bodyboarding is also referred to as ''Boogieboarding'' due to the in ...

equipment, and their

Cocoa Beach, Florida Cocoa Beach is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 11,354 at the 2020 United States census, up from 11,231 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Palm Bay, Florida, Palm Bay–Melbourne, Florida, Melbourne–T ...

, store is currently the largest surf shop in the world. Michele Goodwin is the current president. Ron Jon Surf Shop has 13 stores nationwide. In addition to the Ship Bottom and Cocoa Beach stores, Ron Jon also operates stores in Orange Beach, Alabama; Orlando, Pensacola, Key West, Jacksonville Beach, Fort Myers, Panama City Beach and Clearwater Beach, Florida; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Ocean City, New Jersey; and Ocean City, Maryland. There is also a store on Grand Turk and Cozumel,

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. A store in

Orange, California Orange is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District ...

, closed in early 2009. Another store in Sawgrass Mills in

Sunrise, Florida Sunrise is a city in central-western Broward County, Florida, Broward County, Florida, United States, and is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area. The population was 97,335 at the time of the 2020 census. History Early history In ...

, closed in 2019. The corporation also includes one Ron Jon Surf School separately owned and run by Craig Carroll, located in

. The company made plans to construct a surf park at the location of the Orlando Ron Jon store, but it has since been canceled, due in part that the schematics for the pool were installed backwards. The flagship store in Cocoa Beach is open daily and has over 52,000 square feet of retail space.

In popular culture

Ruon-Jian is the name of a fictional character in the animated television series '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'' which aired on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

between 2005 and 2008. His name (pronounced Ron-Jon) is humorously derived from the shop, as Ruon-Jian acts and looks like a stereotypical surfer.

References

External links

{{Commons category Sporting goods retailers of the United States Swimwear brands Surfwear brands Companies based in Brevard County, Florida Cocoa Beach, Florida Long Beach Island American companies established in 1959 Retail companies established in 1959 1959 establishments in New Jersey Tourist attractions in Brevard County, Florida Surfing retailers