For beach businesses, July Fourth is no holiday
Lower fuel prices, sunny weather have business owners hopeful of busy few days
Delaware beach businesses are hoping this Independence Day weekend is anything but a holiday. With sunny skies forecast and low gas prices in place, they're ready for a profitable few days.
“It’s wild and crazy,” said Pat Ash, a day manager for Candy Kitchen, which has seven Delaware beach locations. “We have crazy people all the time – we’re on the boardwalk.”
To prepare for crowds, Ash said they increase their amount of in-store employees, and increase the amount of food they have, sometimes by doubling. Ash has worked with Candy Kitchen for 19 years.
“We cut more fudge,” Ash said. “Our bagged items that we bag here, we double up on that. That’s about all we can do.”
Ash shares sentiments with many other beach business owners, looking forward to rush of customers Independence Day weekend brings.
Matt Weiner, general manager of the Beach Arcade in Rehoboth Beach, described the Independence Day weekend as “without a doubt the biggest weekend” of the season for crowds and revenue.
“We make sure that all of our games are full of prizes. We make sure that we have enough staff to handle the higher traffic that we get, and we’ve got this wonderful Fourth of July playlist of American music that we’ll be blasting through the arcade all weekend,” Weiner said about the 32-year-old family-owned business.
More than 115,000 Delawareans are planning a vacation, 1.6 percent more than last year, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic. The association's survey indicates travel during this holiday will be the highest on record, with low gas prices encouraging more vacations.
The average cost of a regular gallon of unleaded gasoline in Delaware on Thursday was $2.16, compared with $2.68 a year ago.
This year, businesses like Dolle’s Candyland are mostly looking forward to the spike in revenue coming with the holiday. Owner Tom Ibach is hoping this holiday will spike business describing this season as “terrible so far.”
“We’re just hoping that the weather holds up and that from here on it’s a good season,” Ibach said.
Often revered for its saltwater taffy, Dolle’s Candyland is one of the more popular Rehoboth Beach boardwalk shops.
Beach shops often lose out on a potential extra day of revenue because of fireworks scheduling, according to Weiner. The fireworks are usually scheduled on July 3 instead of July 4.
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“A lot of time as soon as the fireworks happen, the crowd just clears out of time,” Weiner said. “I’m concerned with them doing the fireworks on Sunday. They’ll be leaving early Monday morning, and it kind of kills an extra day that we should have had serious business.”
The forecast predicts mostly sunny weather for the weekend, but rain rarely stops the crowds.
“In the past, we’ve had times where it rained just before the fireworks, but a lot of people will stick it out because they just want to see the fireworks,” Weiner said.
He said during the weekend there will be “endless streams” of people coming in and out.
“It’s madness on Fourth of July weekend,” Weiner said. “People spend all day on the boardwalk. There’s just no down time on Fourth of July weekend.”
Contact TyLisa C. Johnson at TJohnson@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2832. Follow her on Twitter @tylisajohnson
