LOUISE BOLGER | SUN
Steve Traves offers outdoor apparel and gear at his new store
on Pine Avenue in Anna Maria.
Sometimes I look around Anna Maria Island and remember the sleepy little beach community where the primary activity was sunbathing and wonder where all of these super athletic people came from. Were we invaded by paddleboarders and kayakers from Seattle and Hawaii or did someone roll up the sand when I wasn’t looking? However it happened, AMI Outfitters in Anna Maria City is ready for them.
Steve Traves, owner of AMI Outfitters Costal Gear & Apparel, has been providing apparel and gear for just about any outdoor activity for over three years. After listening to his customers, he knew it was time to expand the business in order to provide the new items that the market demanded, and in December, he did just that by opening a second location also on Pine Avenue in Anna Maria.
The new shop still has that comfortable outdoors feel to it with antique cabinets and interesting displays of outdoor gear, but it’s just a little different and very masculine. In fact, this shop carries only men’s apparel and retains its standing as the only exclusive men’s store in Anna Maria City.
Southern Tide is one of the new lines he now carries at this location as well as ExOfficio, insect repellent and sun protection shirts, pants and hats. Being correctly outfitted for travel to certain areas in the world where insect borne diseases are found is vital. He also carries Buff neck protection and Simms fishing products and insect repellent clothes as well as a line of 100 percent cotton Kahala shirts from Hawaii and True Flies shorts, bathing suites and shirts. He still carries Olukia footwear and just added a children’s section. Many of the men’s apparel is designed for sun protection and all of it is beautifully displayed with vibrant colors and the latest prints.
Traves says the expansion into a new location gave him the ability to create a full service fly fishing shop and he is now an Orvis dealer for this nationwide fly fishing company. It also gave AMI Outfitter’s original location the space to focus on children’s apparel and inventory, as well as adding to his women’s collection like their new line of Seabags made from recycled sail material.
Other additions at the new shop are carrying Bote SUP paddleboards and becoming a marine supplies dealer through Land ‘N’ Sea, servicing both boats and RVs. You can order something for your vessel or vehicle at AMI Outfitters and get it the next day without running all over Manatee County looking for a supplier. Traves points out he is the only outfitter store between Tampa and Sarasota and is especially proud of the high number of U.S. made products he carries in both shops.
Being an outdoor boy at heart, Traves, who is on the board of Sarasota Bay Watch, is the perfect person to guide you in the right direction, whether you’re choosing a shirt and shorts or a SUP or kayak. His specialty is specialty services, and he has the background and passion to make it happen.
AMI Outfitters can best be described as the store for men who hate shopping, love the outdoors and just plain want to look great. Like they say at AMI Outfitters, “Think outside the big box, shop small,” and when you see one of those crazy invaders, tell them where the beach is.
AMI OUTFITTERS COASTAL GEAR & APPAREL
401 Pine Avenue
Anna Maria
941-216-3203
www.amioutfitters.com
9 a.m. to 6 p.m., daily
All major credit cards accepted