Shore businesses gear up for a predicted busy summer

STONE HARBOR, N.J. - Joey Fisher answered a call from behind an upstairs counter at Seashore Ace in downtown Stone Harbor. It was 1 p.m. Wednesday, and it seemed as if the phone had not stopped ringing.

She passed this caller to her husband, Jim. Seated behind his desk, he listened to the exasperated voice on the other end and sighed.

"There's nothing easy about Memorial Day weekend at the beach," he said.

This week, as the Fishers and other Jersey Shore business owners prepared for the holiday weekend, they said they were anticipating a bustling summer season, if the weather cooperates.

The Fishers' hardware and home store expects to do more business in four days than in January and February combined. Joey said they have been fielding a lot of orders for grills.

"People didn't realize Memorial Day was coming," she said with a laugh.

Slightly cooler than normal temperatures are expected the next few weeks, but nothing out of the ordinary for the Shore, said Jim Bunker at the National Weather Service's Mount Holly office.

While Atlantic City struggles to diversify its economy after the closing of several casinos, experts at Stockton University anticipate a 4 to 5 percent bump in tourism for Cape May County, Long Beach Island, and other points.

That estimate is one that Brian Tyrrell, associate professor of hospitality and tourism management studies, called conservative, as previous summers' growth had exceeded their predictions.

Diane Wieland, director of the Cape May County Department of Tourism, said all its early indicators - including traffic count in May, predicted hotel occupancies, and Mother's Day weekend crowds - point to a busy summer.

At Diller Fisher Realtors on Third Avenue in Stone Harbor, sales manager Stephan Frame said summer availability at this time is consistent with previous years', with the exception of a couple of less busy periods that he attributed to unusual circumstances this year.

He said June is less booked than usual, perhaps because many schools extended their years to make up for snow days this winter. And with July Fourth falling on a Saturday, the weeks before and after that holiday have an unusual amount of availability as renters may be shying away from the hassle of moving in or moving out on the Fourth.

The business at the two-story Seashore Ace, which Frame called the "hub" of downtown Stone Harbor, can sometimes indicate how busy the season will be overall, he said.

"If we're an indicator," Jim Fisher said, "this summer's going to be off the roof."

Fisher, 65, is also chairman of Sturdy Savings Bank and active in local business groups. He has lived and worked in town all his life.

Around the corner, inside a colorful but empty seating area at Springer's Homemade Ice Cream, manager Seneca Reilly sat on a counter stool and scribbled employees' names onto a schedule.

"I'm in that moment of stress," Reilly said this week, but down the Shore "everybody gets that" before Memorial Day.

On a wall behind Reilly, some of the store's usual flavors were covered up, not yet in stock. By the weekend, many more flavors will be ready. She's expecting her business to be consistent with previous summers, when 2,000 to 3,000 customers have come through the door on a typical day.

Stockton anticipates an increase in Shore tourism in part because of low gas prices.

"We are primarily a drive market," Tyrrell said. "Visitors have more discretionary spending when they're not spending it on gas."

The average gas price per gallon of regular in the Philadelphia area is $2.47, a dollar less than what it was at this time last year, according to the AAA.

On Wednesday afternoon, a steady stream of people walked, biked, and ran up and down the Ocean City boardwalk. Some wore shorts and T-shirts; others trekked up from the beach in bathing suits on a pleasant 70-degree day.

At a Manco & Manco Pizza, about 20 customers were inside in the middle of the afternoon.

At the Fudge Kitchen, manager Jim McHugh stirred a giant bowl of chocolate-nut fudge batter by the store's front window.

"If it's been anything like the last two weekends, [Memorial Day] is going to be busy and bright," he said as he scraped the batter into square pans.

Out on the boardwalk, a booming recorded voice welcomed visitors to "America's Greatest Family Resort."

Back in Stone Harbor, Jim Fisher of Seashore Ace said his business has seen double-digit growth over the same time last year. Customers have been coming in to order outdoor furniture since Presidents' Day weekend in February, he said. It takes about six to eight weeks for an order to be completed.

The week leading up to Memorial Day, employees have been starting their days around 7 a.m. and often staying until 8 or 9 p.m. assembling grills and furniture, he said.

While all signs point toward good business, Fisher said the unpredictable factor each year is weather. For his business, hot, steamy weather usually leads to more customers.

The store doesn't just serve Stone Harbor. Customers also come from Cape May and Ocean City.

Fisher's father and mother, Spike and Etta, opened the store in 1945. At 8 years old, Fisher said he was sweeping, cleaning, and pricing items.

"I like to think I have better things to do now," he said with a laugh.

On a wall behind his desk, there's a black-and-white photo of his father. There are also coloring-book pages from his grandchildren, with messages to "Pop-Pop" written beside the drawings.

"Pop-Pop" has seen his beloved Shore town through bad economies and good, through good weather and violent storms, such as Hurricane Sandy three years ago, which left about two feet of water but luckily did not do much damage.

Down the street from Seashore Ace is a symbol of Stone Harbor opulence in the form of a two-year-old luxury boutique hotel, the Reeds at Shelter Haven.

General manager John Daily beamed as he gave a tour of a plush second-floor suite overlooking the bay.

White Egyptian cotton sheets were crisply folded on the bed. White oak covered the floor. In the bathroom, frameless glass, a rain shower head, and beautiful subway tiles made the shower look more like a work of art than a space for bathing.

From the suite's balcony, Daily pointed out the hotel's Water Star Grille, to which customers can travel by water and dock their boats next to the bayside restaurant.

The Reeds also shuttles guests the few blocks to the beach in an electric car and delivers lunch there at guests' request.

The best available rate listed on its website for an offseason weekday was $229. In late July, peak Jersey Shore season, weekend rates start around $485 and require a minimum of three nights.

As of two days ago, the 37-room hotel had just one or two vacancies for Memorial Day weekend.

Did you miss last weekend's Shore Guide? Find it online at www.philly.com/shoreEndText