Sea Shell City — Local services in Munro Township

Third time here, worst experience yet. Yes they have a lot of cool shell stuff. Yes, they’re the only shell place that I can find up here. However, being the only place should not allow you to be unprofessional and rude. I was in the bathroom( two stalls but the store is quiet and sound travels) with my daughter. A woman cleaning came in behind us and proceeded to leave the door to the bathroom open. She then left the restroom. This left me feeling very exposed to the store. If I could hear them clearly, I imagine they could hear me. Upon leaving the restroom. There was a big basket of cleaner abandoned in the only small sink for me to wash my hands so this was pretty awkward and uncomfortable, but still not too big a deal. When we were ready to check out, we waited patiently at the one register that we had seen an individual at appearing to ring things up when we had first arrived. After waiting for assistance while the employees chatted, I finally decided to ask for help. The fact that we were waiting at the wrong register seemed to annoy the woman as she told us to go to the other register. When we went to check out, I asked her if Apple Pay was working at which point she got so frustrated with my question, that she felt the need to repeat herself twice. Both times done incredibly rudely. I told my husband to just use the debit card, she looked at him and then in a very upset manner said that she will need the ID as well. Then while ringing us up, she charged $.50 per shell for shells that were priced at $.35 each or three for a dollar… we should’ve been charged two dollars instead, we were charged three. Finally, they have a huge table full of wrapped blind boxes. I could not settle on anything to grab myself, so I thought a box with something random would suffice and it would be nice even if it was only one tiny shell. The surprise is half the fun. I picked a box that said it was recommended for a little girl, a teenage girl or a grown woman. Upon getting home and opening the box, it was a deck of used cards. I am so glad that this was bought for myself and not one of my nieces or my daughter. So don’t waste your money on the blind boxes unless you’re in need of something random like a used deck of cards. Do not think we will be making our annual...

I got online Monday to check on store hours and the main web site was down, saying it was under scheduled maintenance. The Google listing didn't have hours, so I checked the Facebook page. It showed it was open from 9-7 on Friday. We showed up around 4:30 on Friday and got shopping. As we were in line to check out, we noticed they were locking up. When we asked why, they said that their fall hours had just changed this week to 9-5. I let them know their web site was down, and they said it just came back up. We weren't quite ready to go, but we decided to make the most of it. When I said that we should use the bathroom before we go, the sales clerk very bluntly indicated that they were all mopped up and closed for the day. When I complained about their online presence showing the wrong hours, the staff was just blunt and unapologetic, clearly wanting to rush us out as soon as possible. There was no notice given to us while my boys were carefully selecting their shells, so we didn't expect to be hurried out like that. This was a magical childhood place for me and it is just very disappointing to be treated like that. We even had another patron outside mention how impolite the customer service was. I would imagine the ownership has changed in the last 30 years, but I just feel this wasn't handled well, particularly for a family who had a two hour drive just to get there. I give it two stars because of how well the store is set up and how adorable it is overall, but the staff seemed more like they should be working in a 24-hour truck stop than at a tourist attraction. I can only imagine there were other families from out of town showing up after we left only to find that the hours had changed so abruptly. Who changes their summer hours to fall hours BEFORE Labor Day weekend? Very...

Really cool shop to visit if you're in the area. This place is huge, and has an equally huge variety of relatively cheap trinkets like keychains, clothing, picture frames, and other things you might find in a tourist shop. Most people will find something interesting and affordable to purchase. Of course, there are seemingly endless aisles of any and all types of shells you can imagine, including ones that are decorated, dyed, and cut into cross-sections. You can get quite a few of these for a bargain.

What really makes this place unique is that you can pay to open an oyster of your choice, then you get to keep the pearl you find inside! My grandmother had fun doing this, then having the 2 pearls she found fashioned into a pair of earrings. There are also some ENORMOUS pieces of shipping equipment, pieces of coral, and other neat artifacts from the sea that most people can't afford, but are eye-catching and fun to inspect.

The worst part of my visit BY FAR was the incredibly high temperature in the store. I don't know if they have air conditioning or not; if they do it doesn't work or wasn't running. The few ceiling fans they did have were barely moving, preventing any meaningful air circulation and leaving an almost entirely stagnant, humid atmosphere that was even hotter than the extreme heat outside.

The employees were always present, friendly, and helpful, so in all I'd recommend this shop to anyone. However, keep in mind that (at the time of this writing) it's...