​Ocean City Businesses Hope To Thrive This Season

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Businesses in Ocean City are holding out hope for a busier season this year as the state continues to lift COVID-19 restrictions.

Across Cape May County, tourism revenue took a hit in 2020, reporting a 42 percent loss from January through July.

Ocean City, home to the largest business district in Cape May County, was severely impacted by the closures and capacity restrictions implemented last year, said Michele Gillian, executive director of the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The restrictions came at a time when businesses in Ocean City were just starting to reopen for the 2020 season last March.

“Those are days and weeks you can’t make up with disposable income. Once you lose those dollars, you’re not going to make it up,” Gillian said. “Hopefully this season people will be able to recover from what happened last year.”

With the loosening of capacity limitations and the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, Gillian said business owners are hoping to see more people walking on the boardwalk and dining in restaurants this summer.

On Friday indoor capacity limits will increase from 35 to 50 percent, and the number of people allowed at gatherings will rise from 10 to 25 people indoors and 25 to 50 people outside.

When beaches reopen in May, Gillian said Ocean City will follow the latest capacity limitations and social distancing guidelines recommended by the Centers For Disease Control.

“Hopefully more and more restrictions will be taken away, but businesses are excited about people being back and getting back to normal,” she said.

Paul Stryker, manager of Arlene’s on Asbury, is anticipating that more people will dine in at the breakfast eatery this summer.

Stryker said the restaurant served significantly less customers when they could only offer take-out on Easter and Mother’s Day last year. The canceling of city-wide events also led to a steep decline in dining.

“As a whole, business was off,” Stryker said. “At least we’re starting off on better footing.”

Though the official start of the tourist season usually kicks off in May, Gillian said many second homeowners are already in Ocean City due to remote work and virtual learning.

“We’ve had such a great influx of second homeowners,” Gillian said. “Retailers and markets that closed during the winter didn’t because they had such strong support from this group that had usually not been here during the winter season.”

Island Beach Gear has been open year-round and the store continues to carry out sales on outdoor equipment through their website.

“We’re already seeing numbers of people walking in the store in March that are unprecedented,” said general manager Brent Burke.

Burke attributes the store's spike in traffic to an increase in “staycations,” where people are frequenting beaches and camp sites rather than taking vacations out of the state.

The clothing store Sun Seekers stayed open on weekends in January and February, and recently reopened fully for the season.

Owner Lynne Cates has seen an increase in foot traffic on the weekends with more people being in the area, signaling a turnaround compared to this time last year.

“I’m going to forge forward thinking that we’re going to have a great year because people are ready to step out of their houses and get somewhere,” Cates said.

Ocean City will kick off their 2021 season with several Easter events, but Gillian said they will be on a smaller scale than in previous years.

In place of the traditional egg hunt on the beach, Easter eggs can be collected at participating boardwalk stores on March 27. Read more: Easter Events Planned For Ocean City

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