1 / 2
The interior of Mullethead Outfitters on String-fellow Road at the St. James City end of the island.
Photo provided
2 / 2
Mullethead Outfitters’ skunk ape mascot Mondongo
[expand]
close
Jenn Erickson, affectionately known as Pine Island Jenn said, before she and her business partner, Roger Lolly, decided on the Mullethead Outfitters unit, he had something of an after school program in mind for the kids of Pine Island Elementary, but that was not to be and ideas of the store took over.
The name of the store itself is rooted on the island, she said.
“Growing up on Pine Island in the mid to late 1980s, our parents were commercial fishermen. Everyone knew the people on Pine Island as mullet heads – that’s what they called us — their idea of the people on the island was not great. Looking back on my childhood on Pine Island — I’m proud to be a mullet head, because I realize what an amazing life I had…The most amazing home town is Pine Island,” Erickson said, explaining details of having grown up in the setting of a small island town.
Many of the people who were accustomed to looking down on Pine Islanders have landed on the island and are living here today, she said.
Erickson describes Lolly as her best friend since the second grade.
“I met him when I moved here and we’ve stayed friends for a long time,” Erickson said, describing Lolly as a generous human being and a great friend who would do anything for anybody.
Help at the start of this project was fundamental she said, adding that she has a deep sense of gratitude for friends like Nick Thurmer for building the inside of the store and her friend Shannon Jackson for helping in a way she could not have imagined ahead of time.
“I definitely want to thank Nick and give my utmost appreciation for my best friend Shannon, who worked tirelessly to get all the inventory entered and really helped me get this off the ground and even worked the store for me until we hired someone. We started the project on Dec. 18 and opened on Jan. 31 with two weeks off in between due to the holidays. If you do the math, that’s pretty intense to get everything ordered, built and set up. Our grand opening had a line around the building so it made it so worth it,” Erickson said.
The Mullethead Outfitters store is a unique project, at least for Erickson, she said, although she admits she feels she’s now following in the footsteps of her parents in business. Her mother formerly owned the deli now known as the Salty Girls Café, once upon a time when the plaza was first built, as well as her parents having been owners of a bait shop in St. James City, making this particular business a completely different and new experience, but one she described as, really cool.
“We’re an outfitter store,” Erickson said, explaining that they also have ammunition and apparel as well as unique gift ideas.
There is also a kitchen area referred to as a “mullet depot,” she said, where fresh meat is sold, which comes from a place called Arnolds Processing in Alva.
“They bring us out steaks and sausages, hamburger and bratwurst — it’s awesome stuff,” Erickson said, adding that she cannot seem to keep the beef jerky and beef sticks in stock.
In addition to things one might expect to find in an apparel shop, Mullethead Outfitters also carries, seasonings, coffee, cigars and nicotine pouches.
“What I’m offering the island has never been here before. Everything in here is reclaimed locally — we have a fishing net from a local fisherman, we have stuff from Captain CJ’s boat, several islanders gave us their trophy catches like their deer or coyotes, just to put around the store. Almost everything in here was reclaimed either locally or throughout the state of Florida. This is something I always wanted to do and here we are,” Erickson said.
Mullethead Outfitters is at 10191 Stringfellow Road, Suite 3, St. James City. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week. For more information, call (239) 517-3944.