40 Sunsational Years! Women’s Clothing Boutique a Model for Female Business Empowerment 40
The Sunsations Sisters
Donna Poling, left, and Liz Eppright-Parker
This season the moment you walk through the doors of Sunsations, you’ll be enveloped by color. On magnificent display at 28 JFK Blvd., the vibrant and chic clothing collections – from dressy to casual, and modern to classic – perfectly complement the sunny exuberance of its owner, Liz Eppright-Parker, a tall blonde with a dazzling smile, and a passion for fashion that shines through.
“Barbie pink is expected to be huge this year because of the movie,” she says, holding up a two-piece retro Audrey Hepburn-style two-piece cropped jacket and skirt, designed by Flora Bea of New York. “So, there’s pink and a lot of other bright colors like neons and oranges. It’s very retro of the ’80s and ’90s. I worked here in the ’80s and ’90s, so it’s kind of déjà vu for me with the trends coming back again.”
The first floor of Sunsations boasts designers such as Clara Sunwoo, Charlie B, and Fifteen Twenty, while the second floor is dedicated to sensational swimwear, one of the largest collections in South Jersey. The extensive selection includes popular brands Tommy Bahama, La Blanca, Trina Turk, and BECCA. From children’s bathing suits to women’s swimwear, Eppright-Parker prides Sunsations on its variety. “We accommodate everybody and every body,” she says.
In September 2021, Liz married longtime fiancé, Bill Parker. Now, Liz Eppright-Parker has another celebration coming up. This summer marks Sunsations’ 40th year as a Sea Isle business. Eppright-Parker is going into her ninth season as the store’s owner. She purchased Sunsations from Donna Gibson Poling, whose entrepreneurship built not only a thriving commercial establishment but also a model for female business empowerment.
The two women share a special bond. Poling taught Eppright-Parker the ropes of her beloved Sunsations, and Liz now carries the torch, dressing everyone from teens to grandmothers and every age in between, helping customers to add to, or build their wardrobes with style.
Some patrons of Sunsations who were in their 20s when the store opened, have since married, had children, and today even grandchildren of those original customers are now shopping at the store.
“Our customers have become part of our family,” Eppright-Parker says.
Interior of Sunsations
The female spirit at Sunsations has always been strong. Poling’s daughter Taryn worked at Sunsations for many years. Poling says her daughter and Eppright-Parker were like “buddies together.” In 2003, Taryn left Sunsations to start raising her young family.
Today, Eppright-Parker refers to her team of sales associates as the Sunsation Sisters, “Because we’ve all been together for so long.”
And long before becoming its owner, Eppright-Parker herself shopped for swimsuits at Sunsations. Then, in 1989, her friend Kim Gibson, Donna’s brother, recommended to his sister that she hire Eppright-Parker for her busy clothing store. Says Eppright-Parker: “Kim said to Donna, you should hire Liz. She has a degree in art.”
The rest is history.
“At that time, I was a visual merchandiser for Macy’s,” Eppright-Parker says. “And I was leaving that position. I’ll never forget the day I met Donna. I had on one black stocking and a black shoe, and one white stocking and a white shoe. And she said, ‘That girl, she looks crazy.’ Well, here you go, 30-some years later. It was a match made in heaven.”
“Liz and I, we just somehow clicked,” says Poling. “We were good together. We laughed together. We dined together. Liz has a wonderful, wonderful aura, she’s very, very happy all the time, and that helps when somebody like that is in the business.”
The two women shared a love for fashion, and both came from an art background. Poling, a 1965 graduate of Immaculata College in Malvern, Pa., has a degree in art and a minor in art education, and worked as an art teacher for nine years. Eppright-Parker has a degree in fine arts from University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Her major was in painting and illustration.
“We have that similar love and passion,” Eppright-Parker says. “And I think with the clothing, too, you have to know color and what goes together and textures, so I think the art background is very helpful. So, I guess Sunsations has become my canvas.”
Cheryl Chestnut, left, and Beth Gavin
Carol Collins, a Sunsation Sensational Sister
Poling says in the years she and Eppright-Parker worked together, they never disagreed on anything.
“We would go to the shows in New York, and honestly, they were some of the best times in my life,” Poling says. “They were at Jacob Javits, it’s just a huge center. And there were hundreds and hundreds of people merchandising their clothes and our tastes were different. So, the combination was good.”
But in the beginning, Poling’s pluck to strike out on her own as a first-time business owner meant she had to make all decisions on her own.
“When I opened the doors, the very first time, and I’m talking about the little, tiny store, people flooded in,” she recalls. “I couldn’t believe they were actually coming in and shopping. I could barely use the register, and a young lady came up to the counter and she said, ‘Are you looking for help?’ And I said, ‘I certainly am, can you start right now?’ I hired her on the spot. She stayed with me for like six years.”
When Sunsations opened in 1983, in the store’s present-day location, it was housed in a small two-story building. The structure had originated as a one-story cinder-block structure with a flat roof that was built in the 1950s by Poling’s parents, Henrietta Braca Gibson and Arthur Gibson, on land gifted to them by Henrietta’s father, Louis Braca Sr., an Italian immigrant who owned and operated numerous businesses in Sea Isle. In that original one-story 1950s-style structure, Poling’s father ran a printing business at one end of the building. And he rented the other half to a woman who operated a store that sold trinkets. Then came the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962, when many homes and businesses in town were destroyed. When, the top floor of a house belonging to relatives of Henrietta was severed during the storm, it would then be given to Henrietta and Arthur to place on top of their one-story building. The Gibsons decided to rent out the top floor as an apartment.
Poling believes it was 1965 when her parents gave her the property, with the two-story building, and in 1983, feeling there was a need in Sea Isle for a women’s clothing store, with swimwear as the primary draw, she started Sunsations. The business thrived.
Construction begins on new building in March 1989.
Exterior of building in 1988.
In 1988, Poling hired an architect and a contractor to erect a new building. It wasn’t an easy task, since the original parcel of land had an odd triangular shape.
“The unique shape is reminiscent of the old railroad tracks that ran along the west side of the property at the turn of the century,” she says.
Poling will never forget the grand opening of the newly erected: “There were so many year-round residents who showed up with flowers and balloons. I was blown away by the reception that I received.”
Her optimism and hard work continues today in Sunsations’ present owner, who in addition to continuing Poling’s tradition of putting on the annual fashion show at the Yacht Club of Sea Isle City, is also actively embracing a strong social media presence for the business.
“We do Instagram, and Facebook, and I have a website,” says Eppright-Parker, who hosts a Facebook Live Shop two Thursdays a month in the spring and fall. Employees model the fashions, while an online viewing audience enjoys the convenience of remote shopping and, if they choose, enjoy a beverage in the comfort of their homes. Eppright-Parker calls it “Sip & Shop.”
“Expansion is always a dream,” she says. “You always wish to keep growing while holding onto the core business, and at Sunsations that’s customer service, friends, family, and fashion.”