SEABROOK — Sitting on the patio behind Groundswell Surf Cafe on a sun-drenched June morning, Heather Fritz Sylvia and Mel Fuller’s collaborative vision was almost palpable.
Segregated from the busy Ocean Boulevard behind it, all that stands out is a single path through the grassy dunes that leads to Seabrook Harbor’s beach, with a platoon of free beach chairs stacked at the entrance and a flotilla of paddleboards lined up out front. A family of four walks up to the takeout window and orders a selection of drinks and breakfast sandwiches before heading to the beach.
“It’s always been my dream to start a local business,” says Sylvia, who opened the first Groundswell Surf Cafe on Salisbury Beach in 2015.
“We wanted to be like a heartbeat within the community, welcoming to people of all ages and all groups.”
That pulse has spread to Seabrook, where Sylvia partnered with Northampton’s Mel Fuller to open a second location at 210 Ocean Boulevard last fall. This weekend, Groundswell will have a big kickoff with a ribbon-cutting on Saturday, a jam-packed schedule of yoga and other fitness classes and live acoustic music from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday.
Fuller, who served in the military for 26 years and also worked for Boeing, first rented a small space in the current building, formerly the Seabrook Police Department, in the fall of 2019. When no other tenants were available, she expanded the spacious Ride the Waves yoga studio, partnering with Sylvia in April of last year. After extensive renovations, Fuller’s vision of a community-based hub that offers a little something for everyone, including beautiful views and a wide selection of healthy, delicious food and drinks, along with a myriad of fitness classes and paddleboard rentals, has become a reality.
“We made an intentional effort to make sure that for grandparents who live in Seabrook Beach, when their kids come to visit with their grandkids, there’s literally something for everyone,” Fuller said. “There’s a little bit of everything here.”
It’s a page straight out of the success strategy that Sylvia, a 2005 graduate of Winnacunnet High School, has implemented in Salisbury for nearly a decade.
“I think we both agreed that this was a really good fit because our business models are community-driven and community-oriented. It’s a perfect match,” enthused Sylvia. “I think it was a really complementary business model.”
Both Sylvia and Fuller believe that a strong “company culture” and excellent customer service are key to the success of both stores, with the majority of staff and instructors being locals who live within a short bike ride of each other, and most starting out as loyal customers.
“Between the two Groundswells locations, I’d say there are about 18 sets of siblings working here,” said Sylvia, whose mother, Jeannie McGehee, is the baker at both locations.
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What’s on the menu at GroundSwell Surf Café?
If you’re looking for a little pick-me-up, like a local favorite Beachy Mocha with espresso, chocolate and cinnamon, a smoothie, or a delicious Groundswell frappe, Sylvia, who studied nutrition at the University of Vermont, and her staff have you covered.
But Groundswell is more than just a fancy smoothie stand: Sylvia was one of the first to bring acai bowls to the Seacoast in 2015, and customers can build their own bowl from a variety of ingredients at each location, or opt for “The Whole Shebang,” a local favorite topped with granola, peanut butter, coconut, banana, berries and honey.
There’s also a hearty breakfast, the usual sandwich boards, baked goods, Belgian-style homemade waffles, and of course, three types of bark bowls for your four-legged friends.
“We also stock gluten-free and grain-free coffee, so both stores are very allergy-conscious,” says Sylvia. “The coffee we use is very high quality and many of our vendors are local, so we try to support local businesses wherever we can.”
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A wide range of fitness classes at GroundSwell and Ride the Wave
Yoga isn’t just limited to Groundswell and Ride the Wave’s spacious studio spaces, accented with colorful murals by North Hampton Middle School art teacher Marsha Zabeth. In the summer, yoga takes place at sunrise mornings on Seabrook Beach across the street, or on the spacious deck of Ernie’s Seaside Restaurant, overlooking the harbor just behind the cafe. Ernie’s owners allowed Fuller and his team to use the deck before they opened, a shining example of the close, symbiotic relationship the cafe has forged with its neighbors.
“Our hope is that when people come to see our store and what we do, they’ll also discover places like Tuna Striker and Ernie’s and realize they don’t have to go that far to find great restaurants and shops,” Fuller said, pointing to the nearby bridge that leads to Hampton Beach.
Yoga is the highlight at GroundSwell and Ride the Wave in Seabrook, but there are plenty of other options.
“Our yoga studio is different from a lot of other studios in that we don’t just do yoga,” says Fuller, who offers 10-class passes and one-time drop-in fees, “We have yoga, barre, strength training, boot camp, cycling, boxing and more throughout the week and throughout the day.”
For those who prefer individual instruction, private lessons are also available for all ages. One of Fuller’s regular clients is a 92-year-old man who has been attending lessons for three years.
“I always say people of all ages and stages of life can participate,” Fuller says with a smile. “We’ve had people of all ages come and participate in our gentle yoga classes, from 25 to 72.”
Both locations are very dog friendly and there is even a dog walking group, Walk the Waves, that meets regularly at the Seabrook location.
According to Sylvia, an avid paddleboarder who was actually married on a paddleboard just steps from the Seabrook Harbor Café, the calm waters of the harbor and estuary offer a winding, scenic seven-mile loop that paddleboarders can easily navigate if they use the tides to their advantage. Paddleboards can be rented by the hour from the shop.
Let’s just say that the sight of the family of four grabbing their boards and beach chairs and walking down the winding sandy path to the beach is a joy to both Fuller and Sylvia.
“Heather and I are really interested in creating a great place for the people of our little coastal community to get healthy and spend time outdoors,” Fuller summarized.
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