When Sleeping Bear Surf opened its doors in Empire in 2004, it was billed as the state’s first surf shop. Today it still stakes its claim as the state’s only full-service surf shop, serving as a hub for Great Lakes surfing and general water merriment, with sales, rentals and classes. And with a 20-plus year history, manager Ella Skrocki decided it was time for a reset. “As I choose the state of evolution, it felt like I needed some new energy,” she says.
I always try to make a few good explorative surf trips when I’m home for the holidays. During the winter, you can usually rely on there being waves in Lake Michigan thanks to the water being (relatively) warm and there being larger gradients in temperature and pressure.
Leelanau County is the third healthiest country in the nation, according to a new University of Wisconsin study, so chances are, you and your neighbors are fairly active people. But are you as active as these guys? Did you surf, skateboard and snowboard all on the same day — in late March? Doubtful.
When Frank and Beryl Skrocki packed up their three tiny kids to start an unknown life up north, they never imagined their family would own and operate one of the only surf shops in Michigan just a few years later.