Seacrest Sundries Has What You Need

Eight years ago Larry and Beje Beasley discoverd Seacrest while visiting SoWal and fell in love. On a trip four years later, heading back home after spring break they realized it was time for a change.

Finding the perfect spot to live, they just had to find a way to make a living. They sold their home in Nashville and came looking for a business to open. They planned to offer a service from one of the kiosks at The Villages of South Walton. Then a large space came available in one of the main buildings and seeing the need for a neighborhood market on the east end of the beach, they created one.

Seacrest Sundries offers a unique selection of groceries and supplies paired with a small restaurant serving breakfast and lunch. A sundry is defined as “a thing or item, especially small, miscellaneous items of little value”, although when you discover that much-needed item, reasonably priced at Seacrest Sundries, it’s hard not to see the value in that.

“When we opened the shop, we asked customers, what do you want that we don’t have? We told them to write it down and if it made sense, we would stock it,” Larry said.

Many of the suggestions were added. Lately they’ve installed fountain drinks. Soon frozen adult beverages – pina coladas and margaritas – will expand the adult beverage selection of wine by the glass, or bottle, and beer.

The grocery side is neatly organized and stocked with items that can save shoppers the hassles of leaving 30A. Larry noted many customers come in looking for things that they forgot to bring or expected to be provided in the rental unit. Paper products are a huge seller, he said.
A quick dash into the store saves time and is not that costly.

One gentleman came in fussing he had just paid $3.75 for a single roll of toilet paper at a convenience store. Larry just couldn’t bring himself to charge outrageous prices knowing he will likely see customers return to his little shop rather than hop in the car for a few items.

The dining area is comfortably furnished with an assortment of tables and chairs. There are sofas and easy chairs to take advantage of the television and free Wi-Fi. It’s a popular place for a morning cup of coffee while reading the newspaper. Breakfast and lunch – made to order goodies at reasonable prices – bring in crowds. Later it’s the perfect spot to relax with a glass of wine or cold beer on a hot afternoon.

Most traffic comes to Seacrest Sundries from bicyclists and walkers, but they also have golf cart visitors and folks who drive over from neighboring developments to pick up to-go orders.
While the winter season has been good, they were packed last summer. Beje said they sold about 150 biscuits a day, many with her sausage gravy, making that a favorite for early morning visitors.

There are also a variety of breakfast sandwiches. At lunch, burgers, hotdogs and made-to-order sandwiches are served. Larry hopes their $6 Angus beef cheeseburger will one day be recognized as the best burger on 30A, but for now he’s happy when guests come in to try it out.
A trend he is responding to is lunches suitable to take to the beach, now they can pack coolers for customers to pick up.

There’s room to grow, Larry said. They plan to add a few more tables outside to accommodate more customers. He is considering knocking out a wall to create a pass-through from the kitchen to the dining area. Another idea is a bar area in the dining area where folks can sit and have a beer and watch a ballgame.

“We’ve been pleasantly surprised. We are heading in the right direction,” Larry said. “We have a great family-oriented clientele. This is the perfect place to meet people.”

In season, Seacrest Sundries is open daily from 7 a.m. to dusk.