Sunshine and Snow Showers

We’re revving up for the Easter weekend with a very mixed weather forecast…Right now, the sun is shining, but only yesterday there was snow falling on Bodmin Moor, just a few miles north. It looks like it will be a smorgasbord of climatic conditions, with rain, hail and gales forecast along with some more sunshine. So although we’ve got our new Reef flip flop range out on the shelves, we’re not putting the woolly hats, gloves and scarves away just yet.

But whatever the weather brings this weekend, we’d like to wish you a really happy Easter, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing!

The winter that just won’t end…

I realised today that none of us here had posted a blog for a shamefully long time…It’s just been so busy this winter. The weather has been challenging here, just like it has been everywhere else in the country. We’re just not used to it in Cornwall - we had deepish snow on the sand for 5 days straight, which has never happened before. Given that Watergate Bay lies at the bottom of a very steep hill, getting to work was no easy task. Getting home again afterwards was even harder! We’ve pretty much sold out of down jackets and warm winter boots…

Staff have been thin on the ground, too – Frenchi, our shop manager, had a cliff path running accident and has had major surgery on her knee – she’ll be off for at least 10 weeks recovering. Hannah and Nadine have both been in Sri Lanka surfing for a month (I’m trying not to let envy overwhelm me!).

We had our busiest Christmas ever, and our January sale kept us on our toes, too.

But enough of the excuses. There’s lots going on down at Watergate Bay now the sun is starting to peep out. Lots of lovely new stock is piling through the door – Patagonia, White Stuff, Salomon, Merrrell, Oxygen – it all looks great. We’ve also got two new women’s brands – Giggle and Mudd and Water, both of which are ethically sourced ranges using organic cotton. They’ll be on the website soon, so keep an eye out for them. We’ll be doing a little photo shoot on the beach with these new ranges, and we just need the temperature to get into double figures so the models don’t become hypothermic!

Shop On The Beach Is Here

Same great brands, same fast, efficient service and same great prices – just a different name. The Extreme Store became the Shop On The Beach on 2nd November – and we’ve spent every day since trying to answer the phone with the new name and getting it wrong!

While we changed name, Royal Mail were giving us (and every other online store) cause for concern by going on strike. We thought long and hard about what to do – we tried a couple of courier companies, but they weren’t ideal, as we had no idea when they would deliver, and if customers were out when the courier called, it became difficult to arrange re-delivery or collection. As it turned out, very few of our deliveries were affected by the strikes – almost 100% of our parcels were delivered within our standard time frame. For us, Royal Mail is still the best option – if you’re out when the postie calls, you can pick up your parcel from your local Post Office when it suits you, which we know our customers like. It’s great news that future industrial action by Royal Mail has now been called off.

So, while we’re on the subject, here’s a quick rundown of our recommended last ordering dates for Christmas presents from Shop On The Beach:

For free UK delivery (Royal Mail First Class): 15^th December

For standard delivery to European addresses outside the UK (Standard Air Mail): 5^th December

For UK Next Day Delivery at £6.95: order by 1pm 23^rd December

The above dates are recommendations only; to guarantee delivery for a specified day, please use our Next Day delivery service (UK orders only), which is great value for money at just £6.95.

We Are Changing Our Name!

Our name, the Extreme Store, hasn’t really reflected who we are for a long time. We’re just not that extreme - we’re simply a collection of people who like good quality, innovative clothes and shoes, great outdoor kit and fun ways to play outside. So we’ve finally decided to change our name to something that feels more like who we are.

Everyone on the north coast of Cornwall, where the shop is, just calls us ‘the shop on the beach’, so guess what we’ve decided to change our name to? Very soon, the website will be changing to www. shoponthebeach.co.uk. Don’t worry if you don’t remember – you’ll still find us by typing in www.extremestore.co.uk.

The website will have a great new look – and you’ll still find all your favourite brands, like Patagonia, O’Neill, Salomon, Merrell and White Stuff. All it means is that we’ll have the name that really tells people who we are.

Keep an eye out for our new look website and keep checking back regularly – we’ll be making exclusive shoponthebeach.co.uk offers – but only for those who’ve signed up to the newsletter!

Its here – the all new Patagonia autumn kit has arrived ….

Crisp mornings, russet leaves, mellow golden sunshine and stunning new season gear from Patagonia – autumn is one of our favourite times of the year!

There’s some great new stuff – a whole new range of Better Sweaters for men and women, down jackets, including the full zip hoody version, brand new for 2009, and of course, some awesome new tees with thought-provoking designs.

We’ve also got some of Patagonia’s iconic classics, like the Retro-X full zip jacket and the gilet vest, plus the famous Snap-T Synchilla fleece.

Plus the beanies and hats this year are better than ever – you might find it difficult to choose.

The new Patagonia range is already selling fast, so catch it while you can.

Trying to Step Lightly

  Everyone at the Extreme Store is environmentally conscious – and we’re all conscious that we could do better. Running a business and being ecologically sound are often difficult to align. However, we’re a small company and we don’t have any shareholders to please, which means we can make our own decisions about the way we operate and work towards making the shop as environmentally sound as possible.

The first decision we made to this end was in stocking Patagonia, a brilliant brand who have blazed the trail in ethical manufacture for decades. We’re putting more and more of our buying budget into this brand because we believe in what Patagonia stands for. The fact that Patagonia has become one of our hottest sellers shows that you believe in them too, which is great.

We’ve also just ordered new bags for the  ‘bricks and mortar’ shop at Watergate Bay that are made from recycled materials. We’re looking for mail order bags that have the equivalent environmental qualities. We recycle all our paper and cardboard waste and we don’t have air con in the building (it’s about 30 degrees today and we’re all very aware of the no air con rule!).

We’re also beginning to question our suppliers about the products we buy from them, hoping to get them to think harder about the environment. We complain to suppliers who use too much packaging; we ask them when they’re going to start using organic cotton.

We’re painfully aware that these are tiny steps and we’ve got a lot further to go, but we’re determined to make the Extreme Store a company that really does step lightly.

The British Longboard Union Midsummer Classic has begun!

I really should have mentioned this a while back, but better late than never…the British Longboard Union Midsummer Classic is being held at Watergate Bay this weekend (20th/21st June). With surfers competing on boards of 9 foot and over, the categories are open, women, juniors and masters. Looking at the surf now, they’ve got challenging conditions, which always makes for an interesting competition. If you’re in the vicinity, come and check it out!

Surf a Surftech for Free!

Over the midsummer weekend (20/21 June) the Surftech Tech Tour will be coming to us here at Watergate Bay, and this means that the Surftech team will be on the beach for the whole weekend with lots and lots of Surftech boards for you to try. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to ride a Surftech, then wonder no more – just get yourself down to the bay and give one a whirl…what have you got to lose?!

The ONeill Psycho Tour comes to the Extreme Store!

The team from O’Neill UK will be heading down to Watergate Bay with the O’Neill Surf Academy on Monday 15th June as part of the now legendary O’Neill Psycho Tour. They’ll be bringing with them lots of fantastic new wetsuits from their 2009 range. All their top of the range suits will be available to try – all you need to do is book a time slot, come down to Watergate Bay on the 15th June and then head out into the waves to experience O’Neill’s cutting edge neoprene technology – for free!

To reserve your time slot to try one O’Neill’s state-of-the-art wetsuits, just call the O’Neill Surf Academy as soon as possible on 01841 520052 or 07828 038243. And why not book one of the Academy’s great surf lessons while you’re at it?

It’s been a while coming, but the Extreme Store’s first blog is finally here…

Yep, we thought we’d get with the programme and write a regular blog to let you know what’s happening at Watergate Bay, introduce you to our great team and flag up when new and exciting stuff has arrived here.

There’s lots going on over the next few weeks – all our summer O’Neill wetsuits will be arriving ready for the warm weather (and it’s stunning today – bright blue sky and a gentle breeze – check out the photo!) and we’ve also teamed up with the O’Neill Surf Academy, who can teach you to surf on the waves right outside our door, to offer vouchers for their all their lessons – they’ll be coming soon.

New Surf Report Coming Soon
And look out for our daily surf report, which we’ll be setting up in the next week or so.

Anyway, for now it’s just a quick hello from the Extreme Store team (more about them all later!) – it’s time for a tea run and to check out the surf...