CAPE MAY – If you’ve got a well-loved Cape May shirt passed down from a family member, odds are it’s from “It’s a Breeze,” the longest-standing shirt shop on the island.
The wares haven’t changed much since the store opened in 1978. Many of the shirt designs are the same as the very first season, the year of the Jonestown Massacre and the arrival of the Cape May County Zoo’s first lion. After all these years, t-shirts are still serious business. Chance Laufman, son of owners Bill and Dorrie Laufman, explained their formula: 100% cotton shirts, garment-dyed, pre-washed, simple designs.
Their focus on quality has earned them lifelong fans.
“Because I worked here as a kid, people recognize me. I realized I’ve been seeing one specific customer my whole life,” Chance said.
Maura Bailey, who runs the store alongside Chance, said: “and yes, they’re really pre-washed! People are always asking, will my shirt shrink? Are you sure it won’t shrink! No, it won’t!”
Maura wore a 40-year-old t-shirt —from the store— during her interview with Do the Shore. The 100% cotton garb, bright purple with “Cape May” on the front, has been worn hundreds of times by members of the Laufman family. Sometimes, customers come in with shirts just as old.
The store sells what Chance called “resortwear,” which means largely pastel garments that say the name of a fancy resort town – like Cape May – proudly on the front. That style of practical souvenir became popular in the 1970s, when Bill opened his first store. It’s a Breeze locations once dotted the coast, with spots in Rehoboth Beach, Annapolis, Key West, and nearby Stone Harbor. But it stands today as a uniquely Cape May fixture. Chance, Maura, Dorrie, and Bill all live just up the road; they aren’t mysterious, faraway owners who cash in on the Cape May name.
You might’ve seen Bill around town. He’s an eccentric local character. And if you’ve ever met a toy collector, you know they’re sticklers for details. Chance said that his father would ship mixtapes to each of the old It’s a Breeze locations, insisting that store managers play only the music he personally curated. Thankfully, for the managers’ sakes, the music is great: hits from NRBQ, The Beatles, Neil Young.
The store, too, has that old-school feeling. Because it really is old. But it’s not dingy; the colors in here are bright and the real stained wood that defines the store helps it feel open and inviting despite its small footprint. Details in the store were hand-made – carved, painted – by Bill. He wanted the store to have a curated aesthetic, and that meant doing things himself.
“Most of the display decor, whatever you call it, on the walls, was painted or built by my dad and his best friend Pat 40 years ago, and that stuff has not changed at all. The store has built a lot of character, which means showing the wear on the floor where people walk. I love seeing those kinds of details.”
The music in It’s a Breeze is maybe louder than customers are used to. “If the music is loud enough, customers can trash-talk the wares without the employees hearing,” Chance said with a laugh.
The past five years have been the busiest the store has ever seen. Chance said that COVID brought new money to the island, and lots more shoppers.
Chance and Maura have begun to take over the store from Bill and Dorrie. It’s not something the couple imagined for themselves even just three years ago, when they moved back to the Cape from Philadelphia.
“We were restless, not saving money, that never-ending renters loop you can get into. We wanted to grow up a little, get up on our feet,” Maura said.
It helps that Maura and Chance share many of Bill’s aesthetic values. They aren’t going to cheap out, change the formula, or chase trends.
“It’s a real honor,” Chance said. “It takes a long time to build something up like this. We’ve been graced with getting to run it. I know this was my parents’ dream. I take that seriously.”
Visit It’s a Breeze on the Washington Street Mall in Cape May.
Contact the author, Collin Hall, at 609-886-8600 ext. 156
