Boardwalk businesses thrived after a busy post-Covid winter on the Jersey Shore
Boardway businesses that have been heavily impacted by small crowds over the past two summers are reporting an exciting return as the 2022 summer Labor Day weekend approaches.
Ocean City, NJ – Among the many small businesses affected during the Covid-19 pandemic, beach shops that thrived in a short window of opportunity are finally bouncing back and growing.
As thousands flock to the beach this Labor Day weekend for an unofficial summer vacation, store owners are reporting crowds and profits that rival pre-pandemic levels.
Wendy Barth, who specializes in swimwear in Ocean City, New Jersey, told FOX 29 that the empty spaces on her shop’s walls are examples of a profitable summer.
“It’s great to see everyone coming back to the mall and being here and feeling comfortable and, yes, enjoying life again,” one shopper told FOX 29’s Ellen Kolodziej.
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Staff at the nearby Shirt Shack believe summer 2022 will be one of the “best summers ever”.
“It was a little slow at the beginning because of the weather, but it was great, and we had a great June, a great July, it was great,” Iuliia Lobunets said.
It’s not just the financial benefits of the big guys on the beach that small business owners and workers are excited about this summer, but the return to normal that everyone has been waiting for.
“It’s been great to see all the towns come back, come back to life, so it’s great to see Ocean City alive again,” Courtney Wolfe said.
Jeffrey and Jacques Traxes, small business owners in Pennsylvania, know firsthand what the beach town’s shops have been through and are happy to see them weather the storm.
“I think the people are willing to come out, we’re in a recession, we can’t do anything, and we can either fear it or just enjoy it,” Jacques Truxes said.
