Wrapped up in memories: Beachside Clothing Company designs blankets that warm the soul

Putting an end to a vacation isn’t always easy. It’s never been easy for Steve Zimmerman and his daughter Julie Sommer. After spending the past two decades vacationing on their beloved Nantucket as a family—and after countless homeward-bound ferry rides that left them feeling deflated—the two came up with an idea, a way for people to bring a piece of their vacation, and their memories, home. Their idea was to make blankets—quilted blankets that would be designed to represent specific destinations, including Nantucket, and tell the stories of these places. Their idea turned into a budding business: Beachside Clothing Company.

“We really want everyone who buys one of our products to feel that emotional attachment and little tug on their heart that, while they’re not in their favorite place, they’re with their favorite place,” Zimmerman says. “Our thought process behind everything is to wrap people in their favorite place.”

To create their custom blankets, which measure 62” x 80” and are made of 100 percent cotton, Zimmerman says Julie, a graphic artist, sits down with customers to determine what’s special about and important to their chosen area. She then designs images based on that information for the blanket’s 12 panels. Images can be anything from landmarks and favorite places, to zip codes and coordinates.

“Julie takes a lot of pride in her work—she’s probably a little too much of a perfectionist,” Zimmerman says with a laugh. “She wants each blanket to be special and not look too close to another, so she works really hard to capture the flavor of the conversation with the client to deliver and exceed their expectations.”

Beachside Clothing Company also has an inventory of blanket designs, which includes their Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket blankets, as well as blankets representing other areas of New England and beyond. Additionally, the company also makes coasters featuring images from their blankets, and hats that feature an American flag design and can be customized to display the name of any town or location—or even the name of one’s house or boat.

With Beachside Clothing Company now in its fourth year, Zimmerman—who also owns Beach House Logos—says they are looking to expand into making custom blankets for occasions like weddings and family reunions, and for real estate companies to use as closing gifts. Ultimately, he says they’d love to have their products in every resort community in the country. “We want everybody to be able to have our blankets.”

Beachside Clothing Company • 302-200-9997 • beachsideclothing.com

Check out more products from Beachside Clothing Company in the Cape Cod Life General Store