Superstorm Sandy struck almost seven months ago – but it’s not old news in the minds of Jersey Shore business owners as they prepare for the summer season.
While some tourists seem eager to visit the summer destination spot and survey the damage, business owners say other would-be vacationers are worried destroyed beaches and closed shops might spoil the summer fun.
“Many are reluctant to make reservations, because they think the beaches won’t be up and running,” says Renee Typaldos, the owner of the Grenville Inn, in Bay Head, New Jersey.
And Glenn Kithcart, owner of Bay Head’s Bentley Inn, says callers are concerned about the size of the beach.
“It’s there, but it’s much shorter and smaller than it used to be,” Kithcart says.
FOXBusiness.com spoke with small business owners along the Jersey Shore to see how they’ve been preparing for the summer – and whether tourism will help them rebuild.
Expensive Damage — and Not a Lot of Government HelpThe Grenville is situated one short block from the Atlantic Ocean, and an equal distance from Twilight Lake. The 125-year-old hotel lost electricity for 90 days, but lack of power was just the beginning.
“We have our roof which needs to be repaired, all our electric needed to be rewired, our heating and AC is in the process of being redone, and the elevator had to be replaced,” says Typaldos.
On top of the structural damage, The Grenville lost its stock of wines, banquet silver, refrigerators, washers and dryers. Typaldos submitted insurance claims for over $500,000, and is out of pocket another quarter of a million dollars.
“We’re still waiting for wind coverage to pay out, but flood insurance paid out immediately,” Typaldos says. As for government help, Typaldos hit a bump: The first application to the Small Business Administration was denied, but she’s currently in the process of filing another.
“We’ve applied to every fund that’s available,” she says.
Tangerine Boutique, a women’s clothing store in Bay Head, had four feet of flooding in the store during the height of the storm.
“We lost all the merchandise and just opened a month ago,” says Joan Ferrara, a sales associate, who adds that Tangerine also lost its point of sale system, computers and phones.
Ferrara says the store hasn’t received “one penny” from the government. “The owner has been trying to work it out with the SBA, but every time she submits papers, she gets more – it’s been like starting a business over again,” she says.
The same goes for Kithcart, who has submitted applications to the SBA, but hasn’t received any money yet. “We had major flooding that wiped out our utilities, and wind damage, but we were relatively lucky,” he says, noting that the total cost came to about $200,000.
Concerns and Hopes for the Summer Season
Typaldos says bookings have not been as strong as in previous years. While the hotel’s restaurant has been open for business, the Grenville has been dependent on out-of-town visitors, as many residents have not been able to return to their homes.
Typaldos says bookings have not been as strong as in previous years. While the hotel’s restaurant has been open for business, the Grenville has been dependent on out-of-town visitors, as many residents have not been able to return to their homes.
“During the week, we’re at 50% to 75% occupancy for the hotel,” she says.
While Long Branch’s Ocean Place Resort had minimal damage from the storm, director of sales Mary Lou Pollack says the hotel’s regular clientele was hard-hit by Sandy.
“We’ve had a very good leisure guest following from northern New Jersey, metropolitan New York and specifically Staten Island. We’ve seen a decrease in business from Staten Island, because it was hit so hard and people really don’t have the discretionary income,” says Pollack.
“You’re in a state of denial if you think there won’t be challenges this summer,” she says.
Kithcart says the Bentley is behind 20% in bookings, but he and other business owners are hopeful that fewer options will make this summer a success – even if there are fewer tourists.
“There are less rental properties available, and owners who are repairing their summer homes but still want to come to the beach may give us some business, too,” says Kithcart.
Pollack says she’s feeling optimistic as well, given the “compression in the marketplace.”
“Businesses that may have competed with us are not on their feet again,” she says. Pollack adds that there’s been a groundswell of support from New Jersey’s Fortune 500 companies that is helping Ocean Place.
“There are many businesses, executives and senior leaders from New Jersey’s wonderful Fortune 500 companies who are deciding to have corporate meetings on the shore,” she says.
“It seems like they woke up in January and said, I won’t have my Chicago meeting in Chicago – I’ll have it at the Jersey Shore.”
Wary Owners Reconsider Their Business PlansDespite a sense of optimism, business owners along the shore are viewing their options pragmatically.
Ferrara says while some of Tangerine Boutique’s neighbors have reopened shop, others have decided to close altogether.
“One woman was elderly, and she’s not reopening – she lost her house and her business, which was a woman’s clothing store with children’s clothing in the back,” says Ferrara.
And at Glide Surf Co., owner Philip Brown has decided to move his business from Ocean County’s Normandy Beach – where the shop experienced 6 inches of flooding – to Asbury Park in Monmouth County.
“Only a quarter of the residences are habitable in Normandy Beach,” says Brown. “I can’t imagine real commerce going on there for quite some time.
“With the lack of commerce, I think the economic effects of staying would have been tenfold the effects of the physical damage.”
Brown is choosing Monmouth County because he says it was “hit less hard than Ocean County.”
“They’re already up and running with the boardwalk by Memorial Day Weekend,” he says.
In other news:
Countdown to Memorial Day: A Shore Readiness Report
Posted on
For Americans, Memorial Day weekend is the official start of the summer season. For New Jerseyans, that means heading down the Jersey Shore to their shore town of choice. But almost seven months after superstorm Sandy dealt a devastating blow to many parts of the Jersey Shore, visitors may wonder if the shore is ready for them. So we asked officials from the various shore towns for a status report on their ability to receive visitors beginning this weekend.
Asbury Park — Fully Ready
Although Director of Commerce Tom Gilmour said, “Business will never be as usual” after Hurricane Sandy, he said Asbury Park’s beaches and boardwalks opened May 18 for the summer season. While a few businesses remain closed for repairs, he said all will be open for Memorial Day weekend. He also said that officials have been monitoring the water for debris but haven’t found any.
For more information, visit www.cityofasburypark.com.
Atlantic City — Fully Ready
Elaine Shapiro Zamansky, Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority:
“Atlantic City’s Tourism District had only minimal damage from Sandy. All of our roads, resorts and tourism attractions were open within days of the storm, and there are many new attractions opening this summer. Our beaches have been refurbished where necessary, our beach bars will be open starting Memorial Day Weekend, there are no water quality restrictions and our famous four-mile boardwalk is fully intact. The footage you saw of Atlantic City’s boardwalk damage during Sandy was misleading. That was a two-block section in a residential area that had already been damaged by other storms and was scheduled for demolition.”
For full destination information, including accommodations, attractions, dining, spas, nightlife and entertainment, visit www.doatlanticcitynj.com.
Avalon — Fully Ready
Scott Wahl, Public Information Officer:
“Avalon is ready for Memorial Day weekend. In fact, we held a huge downtown community festival the day after Thanksgiving, and have been ready since then. There are zero visible signs that a hurricane came through our community last year. All streets, boardwalks, businesses, etc. are open and ready to go. The final road that opened did so about a month ago, a county-owned road to the Townsends Inlet Bridge between Avalon and Sea Isle City. Our beaches received a 302,000 cubic yard beachfill that ended on January 30. All tourist attractions and all beaches are open and ready for the summer. We have no repairs or water restrictions.”
Websites that are useful are www.avalonboro.org and www.visitavalonnj.com.
Belmar — Mostly Ready
Gov. Chris Christie and Belmar Mayor Matthew Doherty will reopen Belmar’s boardwalk and beach for the summer season Wednesday, May 22 with a ribbon cutting. The 1.3-mile boardwalk, which was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, has been rebuilt and officials expect business as usual in Belmar.
For more information about events and activities, visit www.belmar.com.
Related Video: Belmar’s Boardwalk Getting Reconstructed After Sandy Damage
Bradley Beach — Mostly Ready
Mary Ann Solinski, Municipal Clerk:
“Bradley Beach will be having a Memorial Day Parade along Ocean Avenue starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 25. The Memorial Day Committee will have their Annual Memorial Day Festival at the beachfront on both Saturday and Sunday, May 25 and May 26 with musical entertainment, food vendors, merchandise vendors along the beachfront walkway and kiddy rides.
Also, the newly-renovated Ship Wrecked Miniature Golf Course will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony around 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 25. The borough’s beachfront will be open including bathing, bathrooms and boardwalk area. The newly-renovated Children’s Playground is also open. However, access to the beach at the Third Avenue entrance will be closed. We anticipate that our concessions will be fully operating.”
For more information, visit the borough’s website is currently www.bradleybeachonline.com
Related Videos:
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- In Bradley Beach, Sand Dunes Spared Town From Sandy’s Worst
Cape May — Fully Ready
In season (Memorial Day through Labor Day), you must have a beach tag to use Cape May’s beaches. Tags are required for all beachgoers 12 and over between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Beach tags are available at the City Hall Tax Office and at all beach entrances during the summer.
For more information, visit www.capemay.com/activities/cape-may-beaches.html
Island Beach State Park — Mostly Ready
Michele Buckley, Office of Communications and Visitor Services, NJ Division of Parks and Forestry:
“Most areas have reopened with the exception of Ocean Bathing Area #1 which is currently closed to allow for demolition and reconstruction of the boardwalks. OBA #2 is open for public access. We anticipate reopening OBA #1 before July 4.”
Updated information on Island Beach State Park can be found onwww.njparksandforests.org/parks/island.html
Lavallette — Partially Ready
Lavallette Deputy Clerk:
“The Borough of Lavallette is open and operational. Our beach season opens June 22 which is when you will need beach badges. Badges are being sold every weekend. Fridays from 3 to 7 p.m. and Saturday, Sunday and Monday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Preseason badge price is $35.00. After June 17, they will be $45.00
Parking stickers for the bay front parking lots are $10.00 and they are required Memorial Day weekend to Labor day. Parking on our streets is free. We will be having Memorial Day Services on Monday, May 27 at 11 a.m. Most of our businesses are open. We have a link to the Lavallette Business Association to see exactly how many on our website. Our beaches and boardwalk are open but no lifeguards will be on duty until June 22.”
For information on beaches and town, visit lavallette.org.
Long Beach Island — Mostly Ready
The scene is much different on Long Beach Island now than it was days after Hurricane Sandy hit and it was mostly deserted. Long Beach Township Mayor Joseph Mancini said, “LBI is totally open for Memorial Day.” While some residences are still going through repairs, he said 95 percent of businesses are open and operating as normal. The beaches are clear, though he said lifeguards will not be on duty until June 15.
For more information, visit longbeachisland.com.
Long Branch: Partially Ready
Business Administrator Howard Woolley said nearly all of Long Branch’s beaches and public access points will be open. Some of the beaches lost sand from Hurricane Sandy and Woolley said May is the month where it builds up. He explained that if it builds up enough, the beaches will open for the summer season. Businesses have been open since Sandy hit, according to Woolley, because Long Branch’s business area wasn’t hit hard. Part of the boardwalk was lost in the storm, but Woolley said a mile of boardwalk will be open for Memorial Day and a mile still needs to be rebuilt.
For more information, visit www.long-branch.net.
Ocean City — Fully Ready
Laurie H. Howey, Communications Manager:
“Superstorm Sandy hit Ocean City, New Jersey hard. However, the city’s municipal recovery efforts began immediately. Ocean City fared much better than our northern neighbors and sustained no major damage to the City’s historic boardwalk or seven miles of beaches.
Although the downtown business district saw historic flood levels, almost all of the retail shops and restaurants have fully completed their flood remediation efforts and have been open for business. There are currently no road closures, boardwalk repairs, beach or water quality restrictions as a result of the storm.
The city recently hosted over 40,000 visitors for the annual Spring Block Party held May 4 in Ocean City’s downtown.”
For further tourism information, visit www.OceanCityVacation.com or call 1-800-BEACHNJ.
Ocean Grove — Mostly Ready
Although FEMA denied funding to rebuild the boardwalk in Ocean Grove, the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (OGCMA) will open Ocean Grove’s beachfront starting Memorial Day weekend. “Since the storm, the Camp Meeting has made substantial progress towards restoring Ocean Grove’s beautiful beachfront, which is vital to the economic, recreational and spiritual well-being of our community,” OGCMA President Dr. Dale C. Whilden said. “Thanks to the support from our local, state and elected federal officials, as well as numerous individuals, private companies and community organizations, our beach will open Saturday, May 25 on schedule.”
For more information, visit www.oceangrove.org.
Oceanport –Mostly Ready
According to officials, businesses are back open in Oceanport, though some residents are not back in their homes. The boat ramp is fully operational.
For more information, visit www.oceanportboro.com.
Point Pleasant Beach — Fully Ready
Damage at Point Pleasant Beach was extensive after Hurricane Sandy, but the recovery effort was successful. The Point Pleasant Beach boardwalk will be complete Thursday, May 23 with most of the businesses back up and running. Everything is open at Jenkinson’s, including the boardwalk, beaches, rides and the aquarium. Martell’s Tiki Bar will also be open.
For more information about Point Pleasant Beach, visit www.pointpleasantbeach.com.
Sandy Hook — Partially Ready
Sandy Hook experienced record flooding during Hurricane Sandy, which shut it down for months. The area reopened earlier this month and all Sandy Hook beaches will be open Memorial Day weekend, however, facilities will be limited. There will be no working bathrooms in the beach center buildings, only portable bathrooms. There will be no outdoor showers or food service. Visitors can bring food, but no glass bottles or barbecuing is allowed. The beaches do not have trash containers so visitors should plan to take all garbage with them. Officials hope as summer progresses, repairs can be made and facilities will reopen. The fee of $15 per car will still be in effect and lifeguards will be on duty starting Saturday, May 25.
For more information, visit www.sandy-hook.com.
Sea Isle City — Fully Ready
Katherine Custer, Director, Sea Isle City Department of Community Services:
“I am happy to report that our town is fully prepared, and very eager, to welcome visitors this Memorial Day Weekend and throughout the 2013 summer season…
Our businesses are all open. Our Promenade/boardwalk is in perfect shape (our 1.5-mile long oceanfront Promenade is made of cement, thus, we don’t call it a boardwalk). And our beaches are full of sand and waiting to welcome swimmers and sun worshipers.”
For more information, visit www.seaislecitynj.us.
Seaside Heights — Fully Ready
Seaside Heights has undergone a successful recovery effort since Hurricane Sandy hit. The area was devastated after the storm. Rebuilding of the boardwalk began in February. According to Special Events Coordinator Michael Graichen, the beaches and businesses will be open for visitors Memorial Day weekend. “We are ready. Everything will be open,” he said.
For more information, visit exit82.com.
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Spring Lake — Fully Ready
Spring Lake’s boardwalk was ripped to pieces during the hurricane, but the beaches and boardwalk are now open for business. The boardwalk has been rebuilt, the beach is clear and the water is clean, according to officials.
For more information, visit www.springlakeboro.org.
Stone Harbor — Mostly Ready
Beach season opens with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, May 24. Stone Harbor Residents, visitors and businesses will hold a mile long ribbon along the Stone Harbor Beach from 106th to 87th Streets. Mayor Walters and Borough Council will cut the ribbon at 95th Street and the beach with members of the community followed by our traditional beach opening with Beach Patrol Captain, Sandy Bosacco.
Stone Harbor beach concession stands are back after a two-year hiatus and will include light refreshments daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Uncle Bill’s Pancake House will be opening their doors for the first time since Super Storm Sandy arrived in October 2012. The Building and additional businesses, Green Cuisine and Eco Alley have had complete renovations since the storm and will be officially welcoming visitors this holiday weekend.
Union Beach — Not Ready
Borough officials said the beaches for sunbathers and beachgoers will not be open for the Memorial Day weekend. The beaches are expected to be open by the following weekend.
The storm wreaked havoc on the half-mile long promenade area. The cost to rebuild the railings, walkways and blacktop is $1,137 million, said Borough Mayor Paul Smith. The project will be completed by the end of June, Smith said. The work will not interfere with access to the beaches.
“We want all the work done for our Fourth of July celebration,” he said
Wildwood — Fully Ready
Mayor Ernie Troiano:
“We are completely open for business. We suffered almost little to no damage from Sandy. Looking forward to a great summer. This year is no different from prior years. No different.”
For more information, visit wildwoodnj.org/wp/
Source: www.njtvonline.org
More related Jersey Shore news:
Jersey Shore Towns to Vacationers: We’re Still Here
Those in the summer realty business say LBI is suffering from a “perception problem”: Some would-be summer renters believe the island is in worse shape than it is
By Emily Feldman
Mark O’Donnell usually books his family’s summer vacation in January. For the last dozen years, that meant reserving an oceanfront house for a week in Long Beach Island, a quiet cluster of beach towns on the New Jersey shore. But this January, he didn’t book the trip. He had Sandy on his mind.
The storm ripped through LBI in late October, but for months he watched the scenes of destruction replay on TV—the whitecaps lapping storefronts on the boulevard, the houses shifted and battered. So he put off vacation planning, too wary to book a trip to a place that might be nursing gaping wounds.
Each summer, families, couples, and carloads of friends migrate to one of the 40 shore towns that dot the coast of New Jersey for brief escapes to the ocean or bay. But this year, many people who have devotedly returned to the Jersey Shore each summer are grappling with the same question that conflicted the O’Donnells: Will it be the same as it used to be?
With Memorial Day around the corner, it’s a question that has taken on more urgency for prospective visitors finalizing their summer plans, and for those on the shore who depend on the seasonal influx of vacationers.
On Long Beach Island, one of the shore’s marquee summer destinations, the problem is playing out in the realm of summer real estate, a key industry for much of the Shore. Realtors and homeowners on the island say they’re seeing more rental vacancies than usual for this time of year and worry that the damage from Sandy got more attention than the cleanup.
“People think we’re Seaside Heights and we’re not,” says Joe Mancini, the mayor of Long Beach, the island’s largest township. Like others on LBI, he believes that images of lingering damage in Seaside and Mantoloking, LBI’s neighbors to the north, have sowed the flawed notion that the entire Jersey shore is still damaged.
“This was a horrific storm,” Mancini adds, “but we were aggressive in cleaning it up.”
Certainly, much of the island appears to be in good shape. Fresh signs and flags adorn shops and restaurants along the island’s main drag, letting passersby know they’ve re-opened. A hilltop of debris that was parked outside the Acme supermaket, a symbol of the island’s devestation, has been hauled away. The island’s main attractions, the pale sandy beaches, have been restored and will be open for the summer.
But some property owners are having trouble relaying that message to seasonal renters, still clinging to the images of flooding and mayhem.
Todd Cohan, a 46-year-old entrepreneur who has rented out properties on LBI since 1997, cannot remember a slower summer. Neither of his two luxury oceanfront homes suffered any flooding or damage and still, with just two weeks until Memorial Day, Cohan had vacancies for 40 percent of the season.
To attract prospective guests, he’s posted current images of his properties to real estate websites Homeaway.com and Beachrentals.net. He’s added a “pay by credit card” option to his listings, which is something he has never done before, and he estimates that he has emailed about 2,000 people—anyone who has ever inquired about either of his 5-bedroom properties—to see if they’d like to book a few nights.
So far, he’s gotten few positive responses. “They write back to say, ‘due to the devastation and destruction from Sandy’—What destruction? I want them to come down here and show me what they think the destruction is,” Cohan says.
Since the rentals are not his only source of income, he doesn’t expect the vacancies to cripple him, though he says he’ll certainly feel the impact. Each home goes for about $9,000 a week—money he puts toward his mortgages.
Weekly rates for rentals on LBI range in price from the high triple digits for inland cottages to more than $12,000 for exclusive oceanfront properties. While realtors say that the dip in demand has been seen across all price levels, luxury homes have taken it particularly hard.
“Normally, they go first,” said Matt Kulinski from the G. Anderson real estate agency. “The way the market works, in January and February, the high-end properties go.” But this year, he says, “it’s been the other way around.”
Vacancies are a concern for both homeowners and local businesses, which depend on a surge of summer income to last them through the slower season. LBI, an island with less than 12,000 residents, has more than 17,000 rental homes, which fill up each summer with visitors. In 2011, summertime tourists generated more than $1.2 billion in spending at restaurants, retail shops and other businesses in southern Ocean County, according to a report commissioned by the LBI Chamber of Commerce.
John Franzoni a realtor at Oceanside Realty who has been in the real estate business for the last 30 years, acknowledges that the storm was worse than any that has hit the island in generations, but doesn’t attribute the dip in rental demand to any real storm damage.
“It’s really because of the perception out there,” he said, noting that just 5 percent of his properties had to be delisted after the storm. “We’re in really good shape, we’re ready to go.”
Still, his rentals are down 20 percent from this time last year—a figure repeated at many agencies along the island—and he says the internet is partially to blame.
“Twenty years ago, on a Saturday or Sunday anytime after the Super Bowl, you’d have people lined up outside to look at rental properties,” he said, referring to the early February weekends when the wave of summer rental bookings begin. “Now, we do 80 or 90 percent of the rentals right over the internet. So that’s been a big change. If people were coming down, they would see the condition, but they only know what they’ve heard. And they’ve gotten a lot of bad reports.”
The island surely wasn’t spared. More than 3,300 applications for residential federal disaster assistance were submitted from Long Beach township alone—a township with just over 8,000 homes. And while the clean-up was aggressive, LBI still bears distinct Sandy scars. Oceanfront homes at the southern end of the island jut out of sand dunes on skinny trunks of exposed pilings. Dumpsters and construction signs still dot the island, particularly in the community of Holgate, which buzzes with the sounds of construction.
But for the most part, the sort of damage that might matter most to tourists has largely been repaired: The beaches have been cleaned and restored and Mayor Mancini says that 95 percent of LBI’s stores and restaurants will be open for business by Memorial Day.
To combat whatever negative impressions would-be visitors may be harboring, a group of LBI devotees organized a commercial aimed at New Jersey residents who may not have seen the island post-recovery. It began airing in early May on about a dozen networks, including Bravo, CNBC, Fox News and Nat Geo, after local businesses and the mayor’s office raised $50,000 for airtime.
While there’s no way to predict the impact the commercial and other publicity may have on wary visitors, rental prices point to optimism. Real estate agents say that homeowners have not lowered their prices just yet. (Cohan hasn’t either.)
Kulinski from the G. Anderson Agency predicts that warmer weather will bring more business to the rental market. “When it’s cold and windy and not really beach-like weather, [beach vacations] are put on the back burner.” He also thinks that prospective renters are waiting to see how much progress the island makes and will eventually commit.
O’Donnell did. After four months of vacillating, he took a daytrip to LBI to assess the storm damage for himself. He found his usual summer home in Holgate badly beaten, as he had expected. But he found plenty of other homes to choose from and settled on a 4-bedroom in Beach Haven, which he booked for a week in July.
“I was pleasantly pleased. The rest of the island seemed to be in decent shape,” he said, adding that he was happy to contribute to the island’s summer economy. “They’re working like demons to get it ready.”
Source: www.nbcnewyork.com
