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Sun, Sand and Shopping

It’s as important as the beach itself. Here are the season’s crop of great new places.

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It didn’t take long for Deb Wilkins-Shiffer to realize that she had outgrown the space at Josephine’s Daughter, the Milton shop (113 Union St., Milton, 329-9475) she opened last year. So in January, she unveiled a second location (128 Second St., Lewes, 381-7782). “I needed more room and more visibility, and it seemed the right way to go,” she says.

There is symmetry to having stores in both Milton and Lewes. “I enjoy being downtown,” she says, “and I love both places.” The Lewes location has less furniture and more of the “wearable art for you and your home” that Wilkins-Shiffer loves to offer.

Josephine’s Daughter is in good company, even in a troubled economy. “It’s been very positive,” says Jeff Evans, sales and marketing director for the Bethany Beach-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce. “The vacancies have provided opportunities for businesses in the area, and several new businesses have come in.”

As in years past, clothing and boutiques have seen the lion’s share of the action, and a few—like Josephine’s Daughter—have multiplied. Quiet Storm (126 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth, 226-2747) in March opened an offshoot, Good Vibes (110 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth, 227-5200). Quiet Storm mixes surf gear with cool sportswear. Good Vibes is more of a lifestyle clothing store, with such brands as Teva, Guy Harvey and Kersh.

Blooming Boutique (98 Garfield Pkwy., Bethany Beach, 541-4119) opened last year. It became the company’s third store. (It’s predecessors are at 216A Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach, 226-3300, and 118 Second St., Lewes, 644-4052). While Blooming Boutique offers lots of fun accessories and gifts, it is best-known for its bead “charm” bracelets, made by Troll, Pandora and Chameleon. It is so well-known that the Lewes shop holds a Beads Anonymous meeting on the third Thursday of every month from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

“People come in with nametags, and we serve refreshments and show them the latest beads,” says owner Micha Seta. “Each month there is a new line.”

Maryanne Barr, owner of The Beach Jetty (123 Second St., Lewes, 645-4606), a women’s boutique, this year also opened The Beach Jetty on Market (205 Second St., Lewes, 644-4608). Despite the address, the entrance is on Market Street—hence the name. “I needed more space, and I thought it was very quaint,” Barr says. The new store has exposed brick and beams. The Second Street store is beachy casual, while the Market Street shop is a tad more upscale while maintaining a coastal frame of mind.

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