Freeman Street Surf Shop
On 208 North Freeman Street, a few blocks from the Pacific, stands a shop that feels both brand new and long remembered. Freeman Street Surf Shop may be a recent addition to Oceanside, but it carries the bones of those that came before — Modern Beach Supply, the CRIME Shop — and the timeless hum of salt air, wax, and stories that have always lived in these streets.
At its center is Paul Nett, a designer who’s spent years shaping the look and feel of the surf industry from the inside. Freeman Street is his canvas. Equal parts shop and studio, it’s a place where retail bleeds into creative vision. Walk through the door and you’ll find more than surfboards — though the racks hold names like CJ Nelson and Harley Ingleby — you’ll find a curated space that reflects Nett’s eye for design and his belief that surf shops should be living, breathing culture hubs.
Here, new boards lean against walls alongside used ones that carry the scars of past swells. The inventory tells a story, but so does the atmosphere: a designer’s sense of order layered with the inevitable mess of surf life. Customers don’t just buy gear; they tap into a community being built in real time, with Nett sketching its contours as much as stocking its shelves.
Freeman Street is a new shop with an old soul — a fresh chapter in Oceanside surf culture written by a man who has long been behind the curtain of how the industry looks and feels. Now, Nett is bringing that vision home, wave by wave, board by board, design by design.
