Get Low

MEMORIAL Day Weekend kicks off the summer for beach people. All of the stores are open for the season and the weather is getting warmer. It’s the perfect time to sit in your beach chair with a good book or your OC magazine while letting the ocean wash over your feet. It’s also the weekend that Brenton Hutchinson got the idea for his company, LowTides Ocean Products that uses ocean-bound plastic to create their high end beach chairs.

“I summer in Sea Isle. I grew up in Haddonfield. My grandfather started with a house on 80th Street in Sea Isle and I’m fortunate enough to have that background growing up. I was born on Memorial Day Weekend. I’ve spent a lot of time in Ocean City over the years,” said Brenton.

Though he spent summers at the shore, he didn’t come up with the idea for his company until 2018.

“It was Memorial Day Weekend 2018 and I picked up National Geographic. It was the edition with the now famous cover showing a plastic bag coming out of the ocean that looked like an iceberg. I ended up going through it that weekend. Saturday or Sunday I was sitting on the beach and brainstorming. [I thought] well, what if I made something for other beach lovers or ocean lovers. That we could take the plastic out of the environment and use it.”

He looked around the beach and spotted his product – beach chairs.

“Over drinks that weekend, I was pitching the idea to family and nobody really shot me down. That started the journey. That week I called one of those ‘bring your inventions to life’ engineering companies. That was it. I was off and running,” said Brenton.

“We had a successful Kickstarter campaign in June of 2019. I was not going to go that route but the more I looked into it, the more I was able to ensure that there was interest in the product. At the end of the day, those who donated got the product. We have a successful full funded campaign and raised $30,000. It took us a full year to get our first season out to the public which was July of last summer,” Brenton said.

It was a big hit.

“What sets us apart is not just the environmental piece of it but our designs.”

— Brenton Hutchinson

“We sold out of our child chairs and our low chairs within the first 60 days. We have season two with a totally new design that will launch the second week of June. In between all of that, we’ve tweaked, updated, changed, and cleaned up the design and found a new factory and new agent. It’s been quite the year,” said Brenton.

The plastic waste used to make the armrests and kickplates doesn’t come from local beach cleanups but rather from countries who can’t properly dispose of their plastic.

“Any plastic that is found in the ocean is actually non reusable because the ocean has started breaking it down. Once it enters the ocean, you can’t use it,” said Brenton.

LowTides Ocean Products partners with a company, Vision Plastics, who sources waste from areas that don’t have the ability to dispose of litter themselves.

“(Vision Plastics) partners with companies in really third world areas who don’t have waste infrastructure to collect their plastic and recycle them,” Brenton said.

Examples of these places are Haiti and the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico.

“(Vision) works with landfills and resorts. These are in coastal areas that when flooding happens, (trash) ends up in your rivers and streams. The big part of pollution

comes from rivers and streams,” Brenton said.

According to the LowTides website, "ocean bound" means the plastic was collected through local efforts within 50 kilometers of a coastline.

“What sets us apart is not just the environmental piece of it but our designs. If you look at our beach chairs, it’s not the same look. We also offer different features like cup holders that can fit a Hydro Flask or Yeti. You can’t fit them into a single cup holder that I’ve seen.”

The lifespan of the chairs is the same as other chairs currently on the market, according to Brenton.

“The weight is six to seven pounds similar to other chairs,” said Brenton.

They offer Dune Tall Chairs, Sand Bar Low Beach Chairs, and Gully Child Beach Chairs.

“The kids sometimes need a chair to sit down and eat lunch,” Brenton said.

These cute chairs come in patterns such as Shark Bite, Dolphin Crest, Whale Wave, Flamingo Beach, Sea Turtle Fuschia, and Seahorse Turquoise.

LowTides Ocean Products beach chairs also come with backpack straps.

If you’re looking to buy a beach chair this summer, Island Beach Gear, 2 W. 9th Street, Ocean City carries LowTides. "They’ve been a great sounding board,” said Brenton. “They have been one of our earliest supporters. They’re going to be carrying chairs in their store and online this summer.”

You can also order beach chairs for the whole family directly from the LowTides Ocean Products – www.lowtidesop.com.

Ready... go!

by Megan Antosy

WHEN you step into Ready’s, it feels like time has stopped. The atmosphere is warmly lit. There’s a counter with stools. Behind that counter is an old milkshake machine as well as an old cash register. The ceilings are adorned with wheel chandeliers. The booths are comfortable. The place feels like home and is home to many people. The regulars are trickling back in after a June 2020 fire closed Ready’s for nine months. Besides Ready’s being rewired, it’s the same place that it was in 1962.

“There’s a lot of history here as far as the city,” said Doug Wing, owner. Ready’s is thought to be the original City Hall. Doug took his spot in Ready’s lengthy history in 2006 after the previous owner retired.

“I worked at the Green Grille at 17th and Asbury for 18 years,” Doug said.

After 12 years out of the kitchen, he made his way back to cooking. He started by adding a few menu items.

“Even when I worked for someone else, I came here to eat,” said Doug.

Ready’s is known for the basics.

“We’re known for the omelettes. Very simple comfort food. Cheeseburgers, turkey sandwiches, chicken salad, grilled cheese, nothing extravagant.”

Among Doug’s favorite items on the menu are chipped beef and cheeseburgers.

“I”m a real simple guy. I just really like a cheeseburger,” Doug said. “I brought chipped beef on the menu. I get such great feedback on it. It’s my favorite thing because I added it to Ready’s.”

He also added blueberry pancakes to the menu.

“We probably sell more blueberry pancakes than regular pancakes,” Doug said.

Doug used the words of his brother, Jamie, to describe his role in Ready’s.

“Jamie said, ‘We are the caretakers of an institution in town. When our time is up, hopefully there will be someone out there who wants to take it over,’” Doug said.

Doug and Jamie bought Ready’s together.

“I run the restaurant, he runs the building. It’s the perfect arrangement. He makes sure that we have tenants upstairs and that they pay the rent. He takes care of the finances. At 3 o’clock, I’m done for the day,” said Doug. No day is the same for Doug.

“When it’s busy, I’m on the line cooking. When it’s not so busy, I do like to talk to people. People like to talk to me. I love it but when it’s too busy I know when I need to be on the line helping the guys get the food out.”

Among Ready’s regulars is the previous owner, Bob.

“The old owner, Bob, used to come in every day prior to the pandemic. He stops in once a week. Look where his knees are,” said Doug, gesturing to a worn spot under the counter. “He’d sit here for an hour and have his oatmeal and his coffee.”

He has many regular customers, which was evident from the waves people were giving him as they came through the door for their breakfast.

“Our price point makes it affordable and it always was for people to repeat. Give them a quality meal at an inexpensive price and they’ll come back and they do. People are creatures of habit and they get the same thing. You just know what they’re going to get,” said Doug.

“I do sometimes miss being a customer of Ready’s. If we came to breakfast, I wouldn’t worry about what’s going on over there. I miss that relaxation of coming to Ready’s.”

His customers were eager to return after the fire. "I would walk out my front door and my neighbors would ask me. I would get stopped five times a day. I’d always come back with “In two weeks.” I just didn’t know and I didn’t want to scare anybody off,” Doug said. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be nine months. It wasn’t even a structural fire.”

His staff missed Ready’s too.

“Most of my employees have been here longer than I’ve been here. At one point, I was the youngest guy here. In fact, today,” Doug paused to look around, “No, I got one employee that’s younger than me. They’re all great. Very lucky to have good people work here.”

Helen Libro has worked at Ready’s for 31 years.

“I love the job. I’m not a big one on change. When we had small children, I was home at night. I’m glad to be back after nine months. It’s so old fashioned and friendly. We get to know people and what’s going on in their lives.”

Working at Ready’s has created a new family.

“We’re like a family here. Doug and Jamie are awesome. There’s three of us [waitresses that] have been here for quite some time. We’re like sisters. It’s a busy little place,” Helen said.

“It’s just like Cheers. People know your name.”