Some places, and some people, just become a part of the fabric of a community. One of those places, Sheffield’s Seafood & Grocery, greets anyone crossing the bridge onto Ocean Isle Beach, and inside was one of those people — Johnny Sheffield. In my former career as a beer salesman, I was fortunate to have Sheffields, and Johnny, as customers. This quickly become one of my very favorite accounts, for the same reasons that it has become a part of what defines the community.
Last Christmas we lost Johnny. I was shocked when I read the news. Johnny was larger than life. He held court in that store, often behind the seafood counter or on the tackle aisle, talking with tourists who were in the store for their first time and would be going home in a week and with long-time customers who’d been coming in to Sheffield’s since it opened more than 55 years ago, with the same genuine interest and warmness and tremendous sense of humor. He made everyone feel like family and the store felt like a big, giant living room, if living rooms had beer coolers and fresh shrimp and T-shirts for sale.
Johnny’s family joined him in that store, and I believe that was a part of what made it feel so homey. His wife Wendy was there, along with his children, Johnathan and Louise. When I met the Sheffields, the kids were, well, kids, but then they grew up and Louise married Kyle Baccarny, and then little Eva entered the family. Toward the end of my time as a beer man, almost every trip into Sheffield’s I’d see Johnny with his granddaughter Eva and see that he was the happiest guy ever.
Last summer my wife and Lisa stopped in to see how the Sheffield’s were doing and found Wendy and Johnathan (now named John-John by Eva) behind the seafood counter. We chatted about Johnny and the store and how much both meant to Ocean Isle Beach, and when we left I had decided this story needed to be written. Now, almost a year after Johnny’s death, Sheffield’s is still homey, still a community staple, and still 100 percent Sheffield.
It’s always has been that, though Johnny wasn’t the first proprietor. Johnny’s dad owned the property and his uncle and brother Jimmy built the store and opened it up. “It was the last Sunday in March, 1967,” said Wendy, “Which was an Easter Sunday.” A photo of the store from the very early days is framed on a shelf just inside the door today, and also featured on a T-shirt!
Wendy is a local, raised in Somerset Landing, “right there where Ocean View Baptist Church is,” she told us. She began working in the store as teenager.
“I started in 1977, I was a junior in high school. I have six brothers and sisters. I was 16 and I wanted to get a job so I could pay for my school ring, annual, cap and gown, and help momma and a daddy out. So I got a summer job here and I just never left,” she said.
In 1981, Johnny left his job as cross country truck driver to work at the store, and that’s where he and Wendy met.
Not long after that Jimmy decided to move his family back to Moore County and after their father decided to parcel out the children’s inheritances while he was still alive, and Johnny ended up with the store.
After more than five decades in operation, what is different? “Well, it hasn’t changed much, but it’s changed a little bit. Of course we have better coolers, better gas,’ said Wendy, “And a little better bookkeeping.”
What’s the formula to more than five decades of success? “We’ve always tried to have hardware, fishing tackle, bait and of course fresh seafood and the gas.” Sheffield’s backs up onto a canal, featuring easy access from the Intracoastal waterway, and it’s not uncommon to see the Marine Patrol or a Sheriff’s Department boat gassing up on the docks.
“We’ve always had the gas on the dock,” Wendy said. “At one time we rented little fishing boats, little 14-foot fiberglass with a little 10-horse motor, then we got rid of them and Johnny got some pontoon boats and we rented those, but we finally got rid of those too. Insurance was just awful. And people don’t know how to drive, especially a big ol’ Pontoon boat.”
Another constant draw to Sheffield’s has been the fresh seafood, though its source has changed a little. “Back then my daddy and two of his friends used to catch everything we sold, the oysters the clams, the fish, the shrimp and all that stuff,” Wendy remembered. “Now we pretty much get it all from Holden Seafood.” That’s another long-time family owned and operated business, so it fits in perfectly.
And then there’s the welcoming, family atmosphere. Asked her favorite part of running Sheffield’s, Wendy doesn’t hesitate at all. “The people. Every summer it’s cool to see the people you haven’t seen since last year.”
Try as she might, though, Wendy said she doesn’t have Johnny’s skill at remembering everyone’s name. “I’m the world’s worst with names. I have tried and tried and tried and I cannot remember the names. I recognize faces. But now, Johnny knew everybody’s name. As a matter of fact this one man had a house over here on the canal for several years and his name was ‘Sam from West Virginia’. I remember that. But he sold his house and moved back to West Virginia. And then 10 years later, he came back and bought a lot on the waterway side and was building a house. He came by to see Johnny and he said Johnny was sitting in that chair and looked up at him and said ‘Sam from West Virginia!’ He said I never would have thought he would remember my name.”
Sheffeild’s was and still is just that kind of place. Whether you’re a long-time resident (and then I really don’t need to tell you this), a newcomer, or a visitor, you too will feel at home at Sheffield’s. Stop in if you need some tackle, or bait, a frosty adult beverage, some snacks, or gas for your boat. You’ll leave feeling like family.
