Meet Your Neighbor Wes Kazmarck | A Lifetime of Making Waves on the Boardwalk
Inside Wes Kazmarck’s office above Surf Mall, there’s a lineup of framed Surf staff tees in various colors overhead, behind glass, honoring the employee whose name takes center stage.
This is the Surf Mall Hall of Fame – an exclusive group of around 20 employees hand picked (about 10 percent of the 200 people employed over time) and asking Wes to talk about it, is guaranteed to put a smile on his face.
Wes and his brother Chris are the owners of the Surf Mall, continuing a family legacy of entrepreneurship that began back with their grandparents Alex and Mary Kazmarck.
In his spare time, Wes is also the president of the Boardwalk Merchants Association, sits on the tourism board, and was heavily involved in the 600 Boardwalk rehab designation journey and is a dad and husband. We sat down with Wes on a July Sunday morning to talk history, family, community, and hotels. But first, how exactly do you get on that hall of fame wall?
“You get on the wall if, when you leave, you’ve done something that carries on – something we remember you for,” Wes said. “I remember what everybody did – 100 percent,” when asked if he recall them all.
And name them he did… from a cool merchandising display, to a better way to file the decals in the warehouse, to a work ethic that rubbed off on everybody around them.
“The job relationship becomes secondary and the personal relationship matters more,” Kazmarck said. “I genuinely care a lot about these kids.”
Wes and his wife Darcy and children Piper and Liam are the team behind T-Shirt World, Lollipop Kids (beach supplies and toys), and Birdcage boutique inside Surf Mall. The name Birdcage is a nod to the original Boardwalk business Wes’s parents Alex and Carol owned on the 600 block of the Boards.
The Kazmarck impact on Ocean City though, began a generation prior, when Alex and Mary first arrived.
“My grandparents were immigrants from Russia and Ukraine. Family legend has it that my grandfather walked around town and found three pennies throughout his visit, just scattered on the ground. He told my grandmother that day that they were moving here. He said, ‘In Ocean City, people have enough money, they throw away pennies,’” Wes said, laughing at the memory. “That is literally the analysis of him coming here.”
Alex and Mary opened a parking and bike business that quickly turned into a hotel empire. The couple opened up several hotels on 9th Street, including the Sifting Sands, which is there today.
“I even spent my summers staying at my grandparents’ hotel so I could get to work easier,” said Wes
Alex and Mary’s son, Wes’s father Alex, kept the entrepreneurship going with tee shirt shops in malls all over the region. It was 1982, when Alex had a visionary idea to turn OC’s old Surf Theatre into a mall. This thought set a path that has since become a tradition for thousands of families year after year on the Ocean City Boardwalk, including Wes.
“I’ve been working on the Ocean City Boardwalk my entire life,” Kazmarck said.
Today, the Kazmarcks have Birdcage shops in Stone Harbor and Sea Isle City and it’s a family affair for Piper and Liam, just as it was for Wes growing up.
“If Piper ever takes it over full-time, she’ll probably be better at it than me and Darcy combined,” Kazmarck said.
Beyond the shops, Wes is in his 19th year as president of the Boardwalk Merchants Association. He’s steered it through the 2008 economic downturn, Hurricane Sandy, and COVID. But it’s this ability to connect people that perhaps he is most proud of… being able to see across the table and work well with others has driven his leadership on the Boardwalk.
“I have to understand everybody’s perspective. Even if we don’t all agree, their logic is usually pretty good, they are some of the most successful business people on the island, said Wes.
With Wes as BMA president, OC’s Boardwalk and Downtown district are supporting one another and regularly working together.
“It’s really hard to be successful if you’re not rowing in the same direction,” he said.
Wes credits downtown counterpart Caitlin Quirk as a fantastic partner in making this happen. Caitlin is the owner of Bowfish Kids and the Downtown Merchants president.
On any given work day, Wes is at Surf Mall, driving to Sea Isle and Stone Harbor, working hard behind the scenes, just as he likes it. This year, though, Wes spearheaded action in the most heated debate the island has seen in years – the 600 Boardwalk hotel project. He helped rally the entire business community to unite in favor of designating the property in need of rehabilitation, a distinction he believes is right for the city and the Boardwalk.
“It’s like when the best free agent wants to come to your town,” he said. “He’s got a 100 percent track record. He’s failed nowhere. We haven’t had real, big hotel construction here in decades. And now we’ve got a guy who’s capable, has the track record, has the brand recognition and lives here. Change is going to happen. You don’t have to love it, but you have to accept it.”
By Stef Godfrey