Shore businesses entered Labor Day weekend hoping for post-hurricane rebound - Press of Atlantic City
The evacuations caused by Hurricane Irene forced shore businesses to lose what is normally one of the season's busiest weekends.
And even though the barrier islands reopened in time for the all-important start of Labor Day weekend, local business owners and employees worry about the lost income.
Jack Morey, owner of Morey's Piers in the Wildwoods, said it took days for the Jersey Shore to return to pre-Irene tourism levels.
"The hurricane event lasted much longer than the hurricane itself, so it definitely felt like a slow recovery of people coming back," Morey said. "We were 100 percent operational on Tuesday, but nobody showed up. But I think everybody's back now."
Tuesday seemed to be the low point, agreed Rich Helfant, director of Lucy the Elephant in Margate.
"It was reminiscent of a rainy day in December," he said. "We were worried the hurricane caused a premature end of summer. But on Wednesday it started to turn, and Thursday and Friday were very strong summer days for Lucy."
In Ocean City, the Boardwalk was fairly crowded Saturday afternoon, but whether it would be crowded enough to make up for lost time was another matter.
"I don't believe it," said Eric Ulrich, owner of the OC Sports Grille on the 800 block of the Boardwalk, when asked if the city has bounced back. "(This week) looked like wintertime. There were no cars on the streets. People came back (Friday) finally, but it's tough to recover for five to six days of lost revenue."
The eatery made its last rent payment in mid-August, Ulrich said, "so we were looking for two to three good weeks so we could bank some money to get us through the winter. ... At least we were banking on Friday and Saturday (before the storm), but when they cleared us out on Friday, that really hurt."
At the Fudge Kitchen, also on the 800 block of the Ocean City Boardwalk, manager Joanne Quinn was more optimistic.
"It's been slow but sure," Quinn said of this past week. "A lot of people went home and didn't come back. This weekend is going to be very important for all businesses down here. We have to try to make up a little bit from last weekend."
That weekend, said Ocean Cafe and Angelo's Pizza owner Maria Duva, "was the biggest weekend in August. We're not going to make up what we lost. ... But anything helps. If it's a nice weekend this weekend, that will be a plus. But what's lost is lost."
Matthew Ellison, lead surf instructor at the Seventh Street Surf Shop, just wanted to get the word out that everything was still there.
"We want the public to know that Ocean City wasn't destroyed," Ellison said. "The beach is still here, the weather's nice. You wouldn't know there was a hurricane."
Among the tourists enjoying a late summer Saturday on the Boardwalk were Greg and Melissa DiBraccio, of Mount Laurel, Burlington County, who had been renting on the island the past few weeks and had to evacuate.
"We made it back down Sunday night and were in for the whole week," Greg DiBraccio said. "We were wondering if we would even make it back onto the island. We were just happy there was no flooding."
Some visitors' hometowns had it much worse during the storm than at the shore, as was the case for one North Jersey family enjoying some Kohr Bros. custards Saturday afternoon.
"We're from Passaic County," said Sarah Bleckerman, of Wayne Township - which saw major flooding during the past week from Irene. "Where we are, there's definitely a bigger impact than down here."
In the end, longtime visitors have seen it much worse following past storms - as Barbara Walton, of Philadelphia, could attest. She said she has visited Ocean City every Labor Day for the past 75 years.
"I don't see much damage," Walton said. "But the people who live here know better. I was afraid, though. I was here after one hurricane (Gloria in 1985), and it was terrible. The ramps were all washed away. ... I don't want anything to change."
Contact Steven Lemongello:
609-272-7275
04 Sep, 2011--
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