There are things that you expect when you go to Hampton Beach. Great people watching on the strip, probably a sunburn, undoubtedly hitting traffic comes to mind and you can always rely on "The Towel Guy" having already set up camp. He is a Hampton Beach staple and has been for as long as I can remember. For the past 20 years I have spent weeks at the beach, passing The Towel Guy literally a hundred times a summer. However, I have never stopped at the business run out of the back of his van.
There is something mysterious about the Towel Guy. I am sure I am not alone when I say he makes me wonder. Is a business strictly selling towels, sunglasses and minimal beach supplies really stable enough to make a living for at least the past 20 years?
To continue, what time do you get there in the morning? What time do you leave at night? First, you always seem to be there and I never seem to see you breaking down or setting up. Both weekends and weekdays- I really admire your work ethic. Do you have a business partner? Do you share the profit?
I would really like to think that it is stable business, but out of every time I have passed the stand, I can't recall a time I even witnessed the Towel Guy making a sale. At the same time the prints on the towels are so diverse, so the funding for that has to come form somewhere, right? There is everything from the American flag towels to the ones with puppies and everything in between. Where do you get them? Do you order them in bulk?
I still fail to see the actual possibility of profiting off strictly towel sales. At that, you are only there in the summer. Do you have another job? Maybe something else you sell in the winter? Or is this a retirement position?
Every time I sit in traffic next to your stand, as my passengers and I stare at the towels billowing in the breeze we end up discussing the probability of the Towel Guy selling something on the black market. This is the most logical explanation for your success in the towel selling industry. Do you really sell something on the black market? Are the towels your cover?
Most Hampton regulars would definitely love the answers to these questions. I personally can say the trip to the beach would not be the same if we weren't welcomed by your display of colorful towels right before we hit Markey's and Brown's then the beach.
Thanks for being a Hampton Beach staple, but I honestly would love some answers regarding your business endeavors.
