Shop Local: Islands, in Cape Coral and Hyannis

September's Shop Local writeup goes to Islands, a two-location shop with stores in Cape Coral, Florida and Hyannis, Massachusetts. It opened in 1989 as Sports East, selling triathlon, volleyball and surf gear alongside Aloha button-downs and Jimmy Buffett tees, and took the Islands name in 1997 after years of winter scuba trips through the Caribbean.

The partnership story is the part worth filing away. Dave Stagman says the shop landed on an RSVLTS retailer list by accident, and the phone started ringing off the hook on a Saturday from Insiders hunting the Step Brothers "Road to Catalina" shirt. They signed on that Monday. Both locations carry licensed and unlicensed pieces, which is the usual reason a brick-and-mortar shelf is worth tracking separately from the site.