Outer Banks Toy Stores

The Cotton Gin has been a coastal shopping tradition for more than 50 years. The original Cotton Gin has stood in the same location in Jarvisburg since 1929, starting as a working cotton gin and growing into a gift store with four locations. The store's primary location in Jarvisburg currently is being rebuilt following a fire, but there's a Pop-Up location nearby in the meantime. The Cotton Gin's other locations in Corolla, Duck and Nags Head offer visitors the same unique shopping experience that the establishment is known for. You’ll find resort fashion for men and women from fine designers like Vineyard Vines, Southern Tide, Habitat and Simply Southern. Other top accessory designers include Pandora, Vera Bradley and Spartina 449. They also offer home fashions, candles, books, garden accessories and products for the gourmet kitchen. The Cotton Gin stores also sell the wines of their sister business, Sanctuary Vineyards. In-store tastings of their many locally grown wine varieties are available.

Kitty Hawk Kites has been teaching the world to fly since 1974. With 10 retail locations from Corolla to Ocracoke, Kitty Hawk Kites boasts an impressive selection of kites, flags and spinners, toys, apparel, gifts and games on the Outer Banks. Kitty Hawk Kites specializes in kites, from the single-lines for kids to high-tech stunt varieties. The stores also sell fun outdoor goodies such as flags, toys, boomerangs and games. You’ll find a wide selection of Outer Banks gear, beach sportswear and footwear from Crocs, Chaco, Hey Dude, Southern Fried and Life is Good apparel, t-shirts, sweatshirts, outdoor clothing, sunglasses and more. Kitty Hawk Kites also offers a number of adventure activities including hang gliding, kayak and SUP tours, lessons and rentals, parasailing, Jet Skis, dolphin tours, wild horse tours, historic tours and much more. The brand-new Whalebone Watersports Center on the Nags Head Causeway offers kayak fishing, Jet Skis, pontoon boat rentals and more. At Kitty Hawk Kites' Waves Village Watersports in Rodanthe, you can learn kiteboarding; buy and rent kiteboarding gear; rent a kayak, surfboard or standup paddleboard or climb the adventure tower/ropes course. Kitty Hawk Kites Hang Gliding School at Jockey's Ridge in Nags Head offers private lessons, beginner lessons, advanced lessons and training packages for hang gliding, as well as retail merchandise and sand boards available for rent.

Walking to Village Craftsmen is almost as much fun as visiting the store. It's at the end of live-oak covered, historic Howard Street, about a block from the harbor. This gallery, run by island natives since 1970, features exquisite traditional and contemporary American-made crafts. You'll find pottery, blown glass, stained glass, wooden kitchen items, musical instruments, lamps, bells, jewelry in a variety of price ranges, hand-carved birds and much more. While you are there, you can also get information about their Ocracoke Ghost and History Tours.