For 50 years, sailors (and parrots) flocked to this strange Florida store

The faded paper sign within Sailorman calls it “the coolest and most extraordinary marine goods store.” Walking through the block-sized warehouse in Fort Lauderdale City, it’s confirmed that there’s really something for everyone.

Are you in the market for huge steering wheels? How about a giant copper lobster? Or two folding bikes? Looking for light tower decorations? Dusty artwork of marine life? Antique torch? Kitchen tongs? Or what about small fabric dolls trapped in glass jars that may or may not be haunted? It’s only $20.

Or you are a practical type and a bowler looking for something more convenient, such as life jackets, flares, cleaning supplies, pumps, propellers and other very specific spare parts. Either way, you are lucky. Sailorman has enough gadgets, Gizmos, Whatzit and ThingAmabobs to jeer a small mermaid.

But how do you track such strange inventory?

“I won’t,” owner Chuck Fitzgerald said.

He bought a strange marine store from Pirate Britt in 1985 and opened it 10 years ago. He loved the “wheel-in” and rare customers, as well as the store’s inventory of boat parts, doodudads and rare artifacts.

Perhaps the world’s largest and most bizarre and friendly marine emporium, Sailorman sells new boat parts and other oddities, but this year he’ll turn 50. The store has overcome many storms in the last 50 years, from changing boating industry to the pandemic.

Fitzgerald, 75, daughter Heather Valdes, 53, and their family team, colleagues and ornery parrots named Cisco have hidden this quirky rift silent signature and retailer.

“I tell every employee when they hired them to go out with a smile in their face for some reason whether a customer is walking down the door, or returning something, buying something, kicking a tire, or selling something,” Fitzgerald said. “And that’s why I think we’ve got a pretty good reputation.”

Crew

A native of Michigan, Fitzgerald came to Florida after “graduating from college.”

He arrived with an idea to become a scuba diving instructor and some pay he saved. However, when he left the bank in anticipation of a counter checkback, he was told to wait two weeks. He needed work quickly and found a job at a marine dealer in Miami. It was water related anyway, so he felt it was a good fit.

Fitzgerald got to know Cealman while working in land and sea distribution. He became friends with Cliff Hunt, the mysterious owner who founded his wife, Maggie and Cealman, after docking a yacht in the Port Everglades. Old newspaper clippings on Sailorman’s website sail the world in the 60s, departing from Vancouver, passing through the Panama Canal, facing Cuban armed soldiers, and traverse the Atlantic.

When Hunt got tired of the retail gig, Fitzgerald bought Cealman from him in 1985. As business has grown over the past 50 years, we have moved several times before settling down to 3000 S. Andrews Avenue.

Just as Fitzgerald told the story of Cealman, Cisco the Parrot demanded that it be included. He walked out of the cage and said, “Up!”, lifted up from the floor onto Fitzgerald’s lap, from which he had never moved.

Fitzgerald rescued Cisco, a 23-year-old blue and yellow concourse, about four years ago. He is Sailorman’s third (and most groin) parrot. Unlike the rest of the staff at Seiraman, Cisco is not happy to meet anyone. He sometimes only likes Fitzgerald. Every few minutes, Cisco hits Fitzgerald’s beak on the lap, informing him how uncomfortable he is in conversation.

“He definitely shows when he’s not happy,” Fitzgerald said. “right?”

“R!” Cisco crouched down.

Valdez celebrates Sailorman’s success with nearly 19 dedicated staff, many of whom have been in business for decades. The staff is very close, she said, some employees are literally family.

Of Valdez’s four sons, ages 19 to 26, two are interested in taking over the family business one day. While Valdez handles daily logistics, Fitzgerald is still the “cornerstone of business.”

“He’s the face of the company. I’m blessed to be able to work with my dad every day,” she said. “We have an incredible relationship. I can’t imagine what would happen to do this without him.”

Dave Zutler, a 35-year-old Saraman employee, agreed. “He’s the glue that brings the company together,” Zutler said as Fitzgerald complained. “He’s a good guy.”

Many years ago, Zutler recalls getting a palette of Adler Barbour Refrigeration Systems on Monday. At the time, Zutler was thinking of getting it for his boat. He asked Fitzgerald (several times that day) if he could have it from the palette. Fitzgerald has signed a deal: if Zutler could sell all Adler Barbers by 6am on Friday, he could keep it up.

For the rest of the week, Zutler approached everyone who stepped into the store. “Want an Adler Barber? Do you want an Adler Barber? Do you need refrigeration?” He reduced his inventory to two, one for the customer and one for himself. At 5pm on Friday he was working on one man to take the last one, but the clients didn’t want it.

At 1/4 to 6 o’clock, Zutler looked over at Fitzgerald. Disappointed, Zutler began closing the store for the day.

“What do you know, you did something really good,” Fitzgerald told him a few minutes later. “You didn’t think you’d sell as much as you did. Take the last one. You got it.”

Villains, sailors, Cisco

If Fitzgerald had nickel every time someone convicted of a famous murder was a client of Cealman, he would have two nickels. It’s not that much, but it’s odd that it happened twice.

Famous designer and speedboat racer Don Aronow was killed in Miami in 1987 by hitman Robert Young. He even came for Thanksgiving.

“We didn’t understand that until then!” Valdes said.

Another “real nice guy” came to the store and tried to put Fitzgerald in his underwater business idea. A few weeks later, the FBI showed up asking about him, Fitzgerald said. Apparently, this man killed Mickey Thompson, a famous California promoter and hot rod racer in 1988, and his wife.

Other well-known customers, like the late actors Jean Hackman and Jimmy Buffet, are not suspicious.

Most of Sailorman’s customers are regular boat and fishing enthusiasts. As the boating industry moved from yachts to mega-yachts, Sailorman was able to adapt to changing customer demand. The true niche of the store is in the parts of the discount boats used. Experienced sailors prefer to see and feel the rust firsthand, rather than see it on eBay, Fitzgerald said.

Distant customers remain loyal to Sailorman, no matter where they are in the world, from the Caribbean to Europe. Earlier this week, Valdez ordered Jamaica to send some life jackets. Instead of shopping at a nearby marine store, many customers prefer to wire money to Cerman.

“We do what we can to help people enjoy the passion of boating, and I think it shows,” Valdez said. “That’s one of the reasons we were successful.”

The store’s reputation keeps up to staff, even on vacation. One day, when Zutler was visiting the Louvre in Paris, he overheard someone from another gallery. When he went to Bergen, Norway, a man approached him at a restaurant on the top of the mountain.

“Are you Dave from Cealman? Do you see that black yacht there?” the man said pointing to the port. “You sold me that Adler Barber seven years ago. It still works!” He paid for Zutler’s drink the rest of the night.

Nick Homeid, a longtime Michigan client, stopped by Cealman this week with his six-year-old daughter, Deena. They come to Fort Lauderdale every year to fish, always sway by the store, and get boat parts and life jackets at the best prices.

“I love it. It’s like a ritual for us to come here,” Homead said. “Even when you don’t need anything, you still buy something.”

Fitzgerald walked to Dina and handed her a little flashlight. But there was something else that interested her.

“Birdy,” she said.

“Okay,” Fitzgerald said as he walked to his office. “Don’t stick your fingers on the cage.”

Keeping your customers happy will pay off in the long run, Valdez said. She recalls a recent encounter when customers were very upset by the store as they lost the package carrying the boat parts that needed UPS. When the package finally arrived, Valdez called him and offered the parts at a discount instead of selling them to someone else for the full price. “You have lifelong clients,” he told her.

“I’m sure anyone will copy our business model,” Valdez said with a laugh. “But it worked for us.”

If you’re going

WHERE: SAILORMAN, 3000 S. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale

Opening hours: Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 6pm, and Saturday from 9am to 5pm.

Information: www.sailorman.com