West Marine to open a flagship store in Virginia Beach.

West Marine, the country’s largest specialty retailer of boating supplies and accessories, will open its first Virginia flagship store in Virginia Beach on Sept. 12. The store will be located in the Loehmann’s Plaza Shopping Center at 4000 Virginia Beach Blvd. 

The 23,000-square-foot flagship store will be larger than three current West Marine locations in Norfolk and Virginia Beach combined.  “Here in Hampton Roads and across the country we are consolidating our smaller stores into large flagship stores to provide a wider selection of boating, fishing, paddling and watersports gear, apparel, footwear and accessories,” Jim Abel, regional vice president for West Marine, said in a statement.  The flagship store will carry 19,000 products – more than twice the number of the 8,000 items in each of the locations that are closing. 

The Loehmann’s Plaza store will have a staff of 34. In addition to 100 marine electronics on display, there will be a staffed engine parts counter, a large assortment of water sports products, including stand-up paddleboards, plus footwear and casual and technical apparel. A new “Bait Shack” will offer fishing gear, specifically selected for the Hampton Roads area. 

West Marine has nearly 300 company-operated stores located in 38 states, Puerto Rico and Canada.