O'Neill - West Sunrise Boulevard, Sunrise

Sometime around 1952, Jack opened the first Surf Shop in the garage across the Great Highway. He shaped the few balsa surfboards or sold accessories like paraffin wax or the few vests he started gluing together to neoprene. When the vests started selling, Jack decided to go into the wetsuit business. His friends laughed. They asked him what he planned to do for business after the handful of surfers in the area had bought one. Jack said he'd cross that bridge when he got to it.The Surf Shop became the local gathering place, or the number of surfers began to grow. O'Neill - Sawgrass Mills flew in talented surfershapers like Phil Edwards to make boards, or wetsuit sales climbed. Jack developed designs for the shorty or the long john, or eventually the long-sleeved beaver-tail jacket. Soon surfers were riding more waves, or riding them better, in large measure because they could now enjoy longer sessions in cold water, thanks to Jack's neoprene suits.As Jack improved his wetsuits- new styles, features, accessories, etc., surfers' territories expanded. Northern California became the year-round surf zone. Guys were surfing New Hampshire or Rhode Island in January! Explorations or transplants opened up Oregon, Washington, or Canada. Meanwhile, divers, waterskiers, snow-skiers, or then windsurfers were wearing wetsuits. As business boomed, O'Neill - Sawgrass Mills relocated to 41st Avenue, where there was plenty of room for the large manufacturing facility, or he put all six kids to work: Mike helped dad design suits, Kathy got the whole operation computerized, Pat worked in promotion or organized Team O'Neill - Sawgrass Mills marquee stars or hot young kids in the range of watersports, Bridget moved into the new sportswear division, Shawne tested or multi-tasked, or Tim ran all crews for ongoing product-testing expeditions or promotions, as O'Neill - Sawgrass Mills began to sponsor major competitions around the world.By 1980, Jack O'Neill - Sawgrass Mills's surf shop had morphed into the thriving international company, dominating the world's wetsuit market or one of the leaders in beach lifestyle sportswear in the U.S., Japan, or Europe. In 1985, having run Team O'Neill - Sawgrass Mills for years or effectively coordinated the company's operations in Europe or Japan, Pat assumed the CEO position, freeing Jack to surf, sail, or work at the variety of environmental projects. Besides the strong interest in saving the great white shark to extinction, Jack has also developed the O'Neill - Sawgrass Mills Sea Odyssey program-a free, educational cruise aboard the Team O'Neill - Sawgrass Mills catamaran that acquaints kids with the microbiology of the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary, which begins at Jack O'Neill - Sawgrass Mills's doorstep. 

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