Yancy III started with a tiny shop in Gulf Breeze. Sometime around 1975 he moved the shop to an old house on 9th Ave in Pensacola (pictured here). I don’t think it was a prosperous time for the shop. He rented out the second floor to a handful of surfers. For awhile there was a weekly Bible study upstairs called the Upper Room.
Eventually Yancy took on a repping job for American Silkscreen. They sold so many “Bad Dog” t-shirts that Yancy was able to buy a building on the corner of 9th and Cervantes. It’s now a Subway Sandwich Shop. Then he hired his brother, JB, away from Gayfers Department stores, and the rest is history 🙂
The interesting thing about Yancy was no matter how good, or bad business was, his main focus was on the surf. He obviously wanted business to prosper but to him, the better business was the more he could surf. And surf he did!
📸 courtesy of Lee Magaha