Plyler Park
The Gay Dolphin Gift Cove is located at 910 North Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States, and calls itself "the nation's largest gift shop". As of 2011, the Gay Dolphin had 26,000 square feet (2,400 m2) and store owner Justin "Buz" Plyler said the store averaged 70,000 items. Located in 50 sections called "coves", including an Elvis Cove, items include "sea shells, brushes for bald men and noisy seat cushions." Larger items have included a fountain with three dolphins costing $7,000 and a life-size cigar store Indian. Tom Pierce's Trader Bill's Shark's Tooth Cove rents space in the building. People can bring in their own shark teeth and have them made into jewelry.
Justin Whitaker Plyler and Eloise Plyler opened the Gay Dolphin in 1946; Justin Plyler Sr. "wanted a whimsical nautical name for his store", according to his son Buz, born three years after the store opened. Hurricane Hazel in 1954 destroyed the original store, which was rebuilt on the same site, starting near the beach. Eventually, the store completed a six-story glass tower next to Ocean Boulevard. In the 1950s, the Plylers also ran an amusement park and a wildlife show. Buz Plyler, born in 1949, started working for his parents at age 8, doing the jobs his father disliked and eventually buying all of the store's merchandise. As of 2011, he has dealt with some sellers for fifty years. Plyler also purchases merchandise from bankrupt suppliers at a discount. The Gay Dolphin was the first tourist-oriented store to stay open year-round.
An annex used to be located across Ocean Boulevard, but it has been replaced by Ripley's Haunted Adventure. A sign with wooden dolphins remains there, despite the city's efforts to have it removed. It went up in the 1970s but had to come down for Hurricane Hugo. Although a 1979 zoning law said such a sign could not be replaced even if taken down for repairs, it went back up in 1994.
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