Editor’s Note: This story was originally published in 2018.
There isn’t a day that goes by that Mike Barden doesn’t think about surfing. A Wilmington native, he’s been on a board for 35 years, and as the owner of Wrightsville Beach’s iconic Surf City Surf Shop since 2003, Barden has been influential in supporting the area’s surfing community. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the industry needed something a little different.
So in 2013, he opened Annex Surf Supply. “I wanted it to have the same feel as Surf City, but with brands the community hadn’t seen, and in a place that brought people together,” Barden says.
At Annex, you’ll find locally made leather wallets and turquoise jewelry, T-shirts and beachy dresses, surfboards and iced coffee, plus a comfy space to talk about weather and wave conditions.
“Annex’s DNA is in surf culture,” Barden says. And so is Barden’s. “It’s innate,” he says. “Whenever the waves are good, I make time to surf.”
Annex Surf Supply
530 Causeway Drive
Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480
(910) 256-2265
annexsurfsupply.com
Eleven Our State authors share stories about the role light plays in their holiday celebrations.
For more than 50 years, a dazzling chandelier has hung in the dining room of the Executive Mansion in Raleigh. Only recently has its remarkable backstory been fully illuminated.
At Burge Flower Shop, Randolph County residents find comfort, joy, and inspiration by the bouquet.
A pair of mother-daughter innkeepers inherited a love of hosting from their expansive family. At Christmastime, they welcome guests to their historic lodge in Stanly County.
