Awful experience. Rude lady was refusing to honor the deals that were advertised throughout the store. read more

Alvin's Island #30 - The sexist false advertising scheme - Souvenir Shops Near Me - Destin, Florida

They have a wide variety of souvenirs for everyone that you're shopping for at good prices

Huge selection of items. Clean store. Organized. There are sales throughout as well if you take a look. I got a sweater and a magnet :)

Number one, unfriendly and rude. Not courteous or thankful for your business. Some inventory is over priced and defective. Been there several times and been the same unfriendly attitude towards the customers. Doesn't cost anything to smile or say thank you. Prefer to shop elsewhere from now on. read more

We were in town vacationing and we stopped to get some souvenirs. During New Years I had a tumble and hurt my knee, so I wasn't able to go up the stairs. I explained that to the young man who was at the cashier and he didn't seem to care. When I explicitly the store is not wheelchair accessible he made it seem as though it's whatever, not important to him at all! What he should have said was that even though he doesn't manage the ADA compliance at the store he is willing to convey my sentiments to the manager. This young man did not seem to care one bit, as seen in the video. I found his behavior to be extremely ableist. Is this what Alvin's stands for? If so that's really sad. read more

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Good but some things are a little pricey good customer service and a wide selection of products like hoodies to souvenirs a good stop.

We stopped in here for some beach towels and memorabilia for our trip. It's very much over price for what you get and there are other options that are better read more

Alvin's Island sells defective merchandise, and they refuse to exchange it within 2 weeks of the full-price purchase. I purchased a full price sweatshirt, and after a couple of wears I noticed the seams coming apart. Took it back to the store with the original receipt, it was only 2 weeks, asked to exchange it for the same shirt and was told "No". I asked to speak to the Manager of the store, #752, Miramar Beach, Florida, the cashier came back and told me to call the main office in South Florida - 305-471-9394. I told the cashier I am leaving to return home tomorrow and would like a shirt to take back, but was simply told to call a number that no one answers, and do not return phone calls promptly. Save your money, there are lots of other places to buy souvenirs that say Destin. read more

These people tried to outright scam us. They charged incorrectly for each small item and were pocketing the money. Buyer beware.

Very disappointed! They were not like this 2 years ago at least with my experience. Well very rude people, not helpful, and plain dumb if you ask me. Nobody seems to know where anything is. Everything and I mean EVERYTHING is overpriced. There was one particular big woman there that was just rude to a bunch of customers that talked to her. Nobody tells you hello or good morning I mean supposedly destin is very touristy and people are friendly to make you come back to their store. Well not with these guys and it wasn't just one Alvin store but two! We tried to give them the benefit of the doubt by going to the other alvin. Same service. I hate to say it but these Alvin stores do not belong here. I will not be buying from any Alvin stores from here on out. read more

Destin, FL location - be sure to have them remove the hidden security tag from your purchased items. We didn't notice this until after we were home 5 states away. No response from the corporate manager. read more

Alvin's Island #30 - Security tag not removed after purchase (they stuff it inside of the pouch) - Souvenir Shops Near Me - Destin, Florida

Alvin's attempted to do something big, and did it in a bad bad way. Selection is impressive, but there's literally too much stuff there. The aisles were impassable, turning around was claustrophobic in areas, and there was just too much stock everywhere including employees blocking paths attempting to add more. Items on the sales racks out front were not correctly tagged which lead to a lot of delays in front of us, picked up an ornament on the counter 2 feet from the cash register and it took a good two minutes of the person looking to locate the price and even then I think she just used a different item. Lot of pricing issues. I guess I didn't expect to see some explicit political shirts there but there's that as well. So to summarize: selection large. Huge store is claustrophobic because there was literally too much stuff in it. Stocking/tagging needs to be worked on because it caused a lot of delays. People working there seemed nice, but also seemed over having to do price lookups. read more

We've shopped at AI in Destin for YEARS. This yr I selected a zip sweatshirt from a table that had a sign indicating that there is "$5 off of ticketed price". When I checked out, I did not get the discount. When I asked, she said that it was only the ones that had a $5 red sticker on the price tag. I pointed out that this is not what the sign says, that the $39.99 sweatshirt should be $34.95 as $39.99 is the TICKETED PRICE. Call it bait-and-switch, deceptive or whatever - but it's downright wrong. read more

I'm being generous because I found what I was looking for and at a pretty reasonable price but customer service was lacking to say the least. They didn't have enough cashiers and a few didn't know what they were doing (maybe they were new so I'm taking that into consideration). Also, standing in line to pay was horrible. The shirt shelves were too close to the registers causing gridlock and confusion at checkout... it should be clear where you're going to pay and who's next in line. You're lucky the beach has ya in "chill mode" cuz otherwise somebody might snap! NOTE: there is a big sign out front stating you get a free box of Taffy w/ $25 purchase but they didn't offer it to anyone and I saw them ringing up lots of purchasing that exceeded $25. We asked and received the Taffy (it's the principle and the kids wanted it). Give out the candy or take the sign down, jus sayin! The store was pretty well organized inside, however the racks at the front entrance could use regular tidying up to help curb appeal. Will I go back? Ehhhhh maybe. Am I a walking advertisement for the store? No read more

Just your average cheap beach souvenir store. Super overpriced items with bad quality. We have been here several times in need of beach chairs. The only decent priced ones were made super cheap and anything nicer was well over $30. It seems as if every product in the store was imported from China. There is an Alvins Island almost every mile down 98. You should only come here if you are really in need of something for the beach, but if you are looking for something different than any generic beach store this is not the place. read more

Alvin's Island #30 - Checkout Area at Alvin's Island. - Souvenir Shops Near Me - Destin, Florida

Cheap tourist junk as expected. Better quality stuff can be found even at Walmart for half the price. But their selection of political hats and shirts from last election cycle is on fire! read more

Very clustered and over priced. You can barely move around in this store. I bought a pair of raybans from here and the lady helping me was very rude and was talking extremely negatively over her headset about her co workers. We heard the whole conversation. It made us all very uncomfortable read more

The employees in this store so rude. Can't even talk to them or even ask a question. Only one cashier and the line was around the building.

Went in to purchase some souvenirs and beach toys. Came out with a 22 dollar price tag. This seemed a bit much as what we had bought should have only rang up to about $12. Turns out the lady had charged us for a "Shooter" (have no idea what that is) for 10 bucks. Felt like they were only in it for the money. Not the first time this has happened to people in my family. Will not be returning to Alvin's. read more

Very Rude! I went into the store to buy some chairs and umbrellas. No one was wearing masks. A young man walked up on me and into my personal space and made me uncomfortable. I was surprised to find out he worked in the store. I asked him if he would put his mask on since he was trying to interact with me and he got smart with me. Another employee quickly intervened and told me that FL state law did not require them to wear masks. Both employees had masks around their necks. I put the stuff I selected down and left the store with my wife. read more

Fantastic beach stores. Always has great selections n excellent prices. Every time we travel to Destin we go in Alvin's Island several times while there. Customer service is top notch. 28 years now. read more

Absolutely awful customer service. They had items marked on sale and then jacked the price up at the register. Called for a manager and she also refused to honor the sale price marked. Went ahead and reluctantly paid the additional $10 since these were to be gifts. The cashier then proceeded to throw my change at me. We again asked for the manager. The cashier walked off from the register leaving the checkout unattended with a line of 15 customers waiting. Finally the manager returned and she ignored my reports of her cashier's behavior. Finally she looked at me with much attitude and apologized. Never will I return any of these tourest trap establishments, as there are several in town. I will also be sure to tell everyone I can find to stay away from these stores. read more

I was in this shop today looking for some things for my kids. I was shopping and all of a sudden I hear a woman belittling her staff in front of customers. I stopped and looked at her and she asked me if I needed anything. I looked at her and asked her if she speaks to all her employees that way. She said yes! I told her she shouldn't be treating them that way and I wouldn't work for her if that was me. She told me to make a complaint. I asked her what her name was and she said I'm not giving you my name. What is yours? I told her mine. I waited till she left which was pretty quickly. I went back in and i asked for her name from someone not naming that person's name. This person's name was OLGA She was the most rudest human I have ever met. How dare u speak to anyone that way. Shame on you. Not only did she lose bussiness she now lost a customer. I hope these ladies leave that place they don't deserve that kind of treatment. Not only did she do this in front of customers she didn't even care that she was speaking to them like crap in front of customers. Still going to call and turn her in she doesn't have a clue on how to run a bussiness. read more

Alvin's Island #30 - Souvenir Shops Near Me - Destin, Florida

Not sure why there are any complaints. This is a souvenir shop at a summer vacation spot. Bought a large floppy sun hat for $13. Lots of gifts of souvenir quality. I went in knowing what to expect and I was very pleased. Don't listen to the negative reviews. read more

Nice looking store, yet merchandise is very cheaply made. A sweatshirt purchased this past summer and worn/washed once has been completely ruined due to red dye fading on the white. The red dye was from the lettering on the sweatshirt. The sweatshirt was washed alone and in cold water on light cycle. I have contacted customer service to be told the following generic response: "In accordance with our exchange and return policy the item has to be in original condition with the original tags in order to be replaced or returned. Unfortunately, since the item is used and washed we cannot process your request." This is a ridiculous and poorly executed response as the problem didn't and couldn't have possibly existed prior to washing the item. I do not recommend Alvin's Island - horrible service and substandard products! read more

Love that place. Tons of clothes, beach supplies and brand name clothing items for cheap. Don't expect top customer service but who cares. It's a fun place to shop read more

Bought goggles which say adult. They wouldn't even fit a child. Wanted to exchange them but they said no beach attire? Hello, that's pretty much all they sell. When I asked the girl if she was the manager, instead of saying yes she said gave me a not so friendly "what do you need". Like most of the people that work here.... not customer friendly at all. read more

Alvin's Island may be every parent's nightmare when they find the multitude of dead hermit crab huddled under their car seat from multiple visit to Destin, so when we popped in here to pick up a floaty tube and some tshirts, I was a little apprehensive. Granted I don't have children, but clustey so-much-crap-it's-hard-to-see-straight places overwhelm me. That being said...Once I got past the henna tattoo chica, the deserted airbrush station, picked up my tube (that ended up being way smaller than I thought it was going to be, sad face), we found their cap, men's tshirt/boardshort, and flipflop section in the way back to be on its A-game! They've got a variety of what I think is good quality surf brands (Lost, Quiksilver) and great quality flip flops (Reef, Sanuk) to be well priced and some great styles! I scooped up a great hat to protect my totally real red hair (ah, wink wink) from the rays of the scorching sun and some super comfy flipflops on serious sale! Boberto picked up a hat too, and some cool t-shirts. I wish their girls section was just as poppin', but alas, it was not so. Check out was easy enough, and we got out of their without airbrushing or henna tattoo'ing or hermit crabbing. Till my next beach trip, Alvin's! read more

I'm a long time visitor to Destin. This past Memorial Day weekend, I was there again for the first time in several years. Alvin's Island has expanded quite a lot since I was last there and I had the (dis)pleasure of shopping there, as Wings has apparently gone out of business or been acquired by Alvin's Island. The store itself is a typical tourist/surf shop with your various knick knacks and t-shirts galore. But the quality of its items is incredibly low. I was sad to see that Wings is gone and that Waves is also apparently on the brink of closing. I've shopped at both of them before and I can say that the things I bought there are still in good shape even after five to, in some cases, nearly fifteen years. I bought one shirt at Alvin's Island, in hopes to keep it as a memento of my most recent road trip to Destin. Sadly, it looks like I will not be able to do so, as the shirt has been worn twice and washed twice and the design is already flaking off badly. My friends who were on the trip have also encountered similar issues with the merchandise purchased at Alvin's Island. For the price we paid, the shirts should last much longer than they ever will. This frustrates me to no end, and as such, I cannot recommend Alvin's Island at all. Buyer beware; Shop elsewhere. read more

All the the signs in the store were wrong. I picked out 2 shirts that were directly under the a sign that said 2 for $18 but the lady at the register was just saying no that the tag said $13 and charged me $24 instead. This was right after the lady in line in front of me had the same problem with buying a bathing suit because her sign said buy one and the second is $5 but she was charged full price as well. read more

worst freaking stores and manager felicia ever!!! do not shop here!!! they sell defective items - our float went completely flat in a day for no reason and they refuse to even exhange it. i will be contacting their corporate headquarters...super incompetent manager...one of the dumbest people i ever met...we threw our receipt away but had my credit card statement and they refused to even do a simple exhange for the exact same item. their floats outaide are defective...never ever shop here!! i hope this dumb cheesy business goes bankrupt. bye dumbass felicia !! read more

When cruising down the strip I love seeing all of the surf and beach stores. Alvin's always puts a smile on my face. They have all your beach-gear essentials such as swimsuits, sunglasses, pool floats, jewelry and souvenirs. They have huge signs to catch your attention about all the sales they have going on. I was drawn in by the huge clearance sign and once I went in for sunshades and looked at the small print there is exclusions. The girl at the check out was nice and helpful with assisting me with price checks for items that we were not marked. I really liked the cute floaties like the donut, pineapple and unicorn. There is so much stuff in here to look at and go through but that's part of the fun of it. One thing I noticed is that a lot of the nice stuff is not on sale. One thing I didn't like was that almost all of the jewelry is made in China instead of from local artists. Overall, Alvin's is a one stop shop for all your beach gear. read more

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Tried to buy shirts on clearance, go to the register and they see it is a Trump shirt and now they want to say it is full price. Racist staff, and discriminating over politics and the fact that I am white. Honestly a shame, the manager was smug about it and basically laughed in our face. I will never return to this store again. Alvin's island, please hire a new manager and new register staff, completely unacceptable on every level. Manager was a heavier set black lady with short hair, she refused to give up her name so I offer a description. read more

Only issue I had was items of clothes on the floor in places and such. But that's understandable due to how many people traverse the isle ways. read more

we spent a couple hours in here looking for swimsuits for my daughter and wife. During that time, I was not approached once by staff to see how I was doing or needing help. When we asked for them to take a shirt off the upper rack, the mgr or owner started telling the staff that was helping us to do this or that on the stocking so she was distracted and pulled away from helping the customer. VERY tacky and rude of a manager to do. read more

First off, I didn't even make it into the store. I saw that the place was opened for the first time since I just moved out here a couple weeks ago, so I thought I'd go check it out since I have never been. As soon as I walked up to the door, I got stopped by an employee and they asked if I had a mask. I replied that I did not. She then said, "no mask, then get the f*** out". Never had I been talked to like that at any establishment of any kind. If this is what I can expect from their employees, then I will never be going to an Alvins. read more

Me and my family traveled to alvins island and came back with a beach ball we normaly played and the vollyball popped and came back to the store to see if we can trade the ball and they said we need a receipt when on the back of the same ball and many others it said his name which was alvin in the end they overall have bad products and the manager was very rude. read more

Alvin's Island was a big let down when it came to clothing size, I watched alot of people have to walk out with nothing cause they didn't have but one small rack of size 2x-5x. Clothing stores need to learn to size up their clothes. Dissapointing. read more

I know, just a bunch of tourist junk? Well I love it. Fun for the kids and family. It is always nice to bring something home that doesn't cost a lot. read more

The Alvin's Island at 632 Scenic Gulf Drive in Miramar Beach is apathetic example of Good Neighbor store and eco-friendly. this store must have 500, 000 watts of lighting pointing directly at all the condos and businesses around it but yet they refuse to point any of it at the ground or even turn any of it off not only is it a nuisance to all the residents and visitors around there it's also a nuisance to the nature and Miss Liat at corporate headquarters was extremely rude when contacted. for those who live in the South Walton Florida area I encourage you to never shop in this store and also encourage any of your visitors and renters to do the same read more