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Judy Urban from the Discovery SeaShell Museum in Ocean City. Talks about the weekend business. For story to find out how business and tourist in general are doing and whether there are any places that are doing better than expected this weekend. Sunday July 05, 2009 (The Press of Atlantic City/Anthony Smedile )
Last week, Judy Urban admits, she felt she was walking on eggshells - or seashells.
Preparing for the make-or-break weekend of the summer season, after a month of rainy weather, she would pace around her family's Discovery shell museum and gift shop in Ocean City, replenishing boxes of starfish and straightening a display of piranhas on little metal stands.
Dreading the effects of the bad economy, Urban had to wonder whether customers' continuing reticence to spend money would nibble away at the shop's Fourth of July business.
"I've got to admit, this was a surprise," Urban said Sunday, at the end of what she called a weekend rush. The tiny shop and museum had been packed, she said, with more than 100 paying customers on Saturday alone.
"And that didn't count people browsing," she beamed.
Across the region's shore towns, visitors stormed the sands and streets this weekend, surprising and sometimes overwhelming business owners. For many guests, a trip to the beach remained part of their summer tradition - and even an affordable last-minute getaway.
"We just decided we'd come down at the last minute - at 1 a.m. last night," laughed Christine Renninger, 23.
Hatching the plan with a friend, Megan Trisch, Renninger jumped into a red Jeep from Pottstown, Pa., on Sunday morning.
"We both just graduated from college and can't find jobs," she lamented. But, stopping to pick up beverages at a Somers Point liquor store, Renninger said she intended to have a picnic at the beach, even on a budget.
"Gas, parking, food - that's not such a big price to pay," she said.
Other business owners sounded a note of caution. "With all the rain we had in June, not even a good weekend can really repair that," said John Jones, who manages Zoe's Beachfront Eatery in Cape May. He said business this weekend was up 5 percent compared with last year's July 4 weekend. But, he added, "You can't fix June with one good weekend, or even a busy season until September."
After a slow start to their business, summer landlords are feeling better about their season.
Dave and Nancy Funk, who own a three-bedroom place on Asbury Avenue in Ocean City, saw a late but sharp uptick in renters.
"It took much longer this year," Dave Funk explained. "Usually, we're full by April. But this year, it took until the end of May before we saw the rush. Now we're 100 percent booked through the season."
Tourism experts who studied previous recessions said customers here were doing what they often do - seeking small chances to spoil their families or just themselves.
The Happy Nails nail salon in Margate was swamped with clients Sunday, thanks to a $25 special offer on manicures and pedicures. Denis Cauvier, a financial adviser based in Ottawa, said that was a classic recession splurge.
"You feel good intellectually because it's good value," he said. "But you also feel good emotionally.
Others said that harder times could bring surprising upsides to businesses offering something out of the ordinary.
"I don't think people just want to lie on the beach," said Richard Laermer, a New York-based author who wrote a guidebook during the recession of the early 1990s. "When they 'relax' on the beach, their minds wander. And back come all the worries."
But quirky or diverting attractions can do better than expected, he predicted.
Back at Discovery shell museum, Judy Urban agreed. "We have the jawbone of a prehistoric shark out back," she explained, pointing to the shop's back courtyard. "People can have a picture taken with it."
"Sure, they've got one just like it in the Smithsonian," she continued. "But where else can you see that?"
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Posted in Life on Monday, July 6, 2009 3:05 am
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