In Wildwoods: A Passing Grade for the Summer Season

WILDWOODS — Did this summer get a passing grade in the Wildwoods?
According to most area businesses, this summer season wouldn’t earn an A+, but it would get passing marks.
The hardest test to pass for most businesses wasn’t the economy; it was the weather, according to local businesses. With the deluge of rain in June, the season got off to a sluggish start. But warm and sunny days at the end of July and August brought more visitors.
“If I were to list the issues we had this summer, it would be weather, weather, weather and then the economy,” said Norris Clark, director of Sales and Marketing at Morey’s Piers.
Clark said that, financially, the organization is down from last year due mostly to the wet days of June and the cooler days of July. Morey’s Piers CFO, he said, would give the summer a C.
Clark said that from a marketing perspective the summer earned a B. The marketing department, he said, kept busy with promotions and advertising campaigns to which visitors consistently responded.
The guests, he said, would rate the summer as an A. “They were happy to receive our promotional items, like the waterpark passes and free parking. Those who came, we’ve had a great response from,” he said.
Splash Zone waterpark, Schellenger Avenue and the Boardwalk, also experienced a difficult June.
Joyce Kluge, director of marketing and sales for the waterpark, said that although “June was a wash. The numbers in the end of July and August surpassed last year.”
Kluge said that as a whole the summer remained “flat” and would rate it as a C.
Over at the MarLane Motel, 4310 Atlantic Ave., rooms were filled with guests.
“The summer went great for us,” said Manger Lisa Visalli, who gave the summer an A.
However, Visalli said that in talking to other motel owners, the summer didn’t rate as highly with everyone.
“I think that in the cases of having a tough summer, the bad weather in June is to blame. Some places just got off to a slow start and then couldn’t catch up,” said Visalli.
She also noticed the economy impacting her guests’ vacation habits when it came to eating out and spending money around town.
“There was definitely a lot more barbecues held here at the motel and people didn’t go out as much,” she said.
At Dogtooth Bar and Grill, 100 E. Taylor Ave., August brought one of the busiest months in the business’ history.
“The summer wasn’t bad at all,” Bar Manager Darrel Doonan said of the projected doom and gloom from the economic slump. “June was a little bit slow, but July and August were really busy. August was probably one of the busiest months we’ve ever had.”
Doonan rated the summer as a B.
Next door at Kona Sports, General Manager Chris Sciarra said that the business had a very strong July and August.
He said having a popular and busy restaurant like Dogtooth right next door also helped boost numbers.
“We’ve improved when it comes to buying the right products that customers are looking for,” said Sciarra. “And the introduction of the e-commerce on our Web site has helped when it comes to people buying online throughout the year.”
Pam Castick, general manager of the Boathouse Restaurant on Rio Grande Boulevard, de-scribed the summer as “going well, although it was down from last year.”
She gave the season a B.
At Westy’s, on Olde New Jersey Avenue, Bill Thompson, an employee who’s seen nine summers employed there, said the “summer is definitely down from what it used to be, but it isn’t all bad.”
Thompson noted that he doesn’t make the amount of money he had in years past, but even if the customers are not coming and spending in droves, they were still coming in.
Thompson said he’d give the summer a B-.
Weather became more of an issue than the economy with Lakeview Docks, on Sunset Lake.
“We had 34 days of rain,” said owner Claudio Garcia, who marked the summer as average and gave it a C.
Not all businesses emerged from the summer unscathed.
Jack McCartney, who owns and operates the Crest Shirt Shop, between Sweet Briar and Cardinal avenues on New Jersey Avenue, and the North Wildwood Shirt Shop, 606 New Jersey Ave., gave the summer a D.
“Everything was off,” McCartney said of both retail locations.
Neighboring Shore Couture, owned by his wife Renee McCartney, also gave the summer low marks compared to previous years.
He noticed that many visitors chose to keep a tight rein on their wallets when it came to retail stores and spent mostly for food.
The only thing that comes close to “extra credit” for businesses that gave the summer a low grade is the approaching shoulders season of September and October.
McCartney said he plans to run sales and events during the rest of the year. Shore Couture and the North Wildwood Shirt Shop are open year round.
John Siciliano, executive director of the Greater Wildwood Tourism Improvement and Development Authority, said that he’s heard various summer ratings from merchants.
However, Siciliano said if he were to grade the summer based on current information it would be mostly speculation.
He told the Herald that the Wildwoods Convention Center has the perfect measuring stick when it comes to seeing how the summer stacked up with a tax that is unique to the Wildwoods.
In addition to sales tax and room taxes, GWTIDA charges an additional 2 percent Tourism Development Fee (TDF) that is used to fund various activities and events throughout the is-land. Siciliano said numbers for TDF for the summer months won’t be in until October.
“We’ll know then how things really went,” said Siciliano.