Seaside Heights Businesses Expecting Boost As July Nears

Thousands of local high school students celebrated this week, and businesses along the predict they'll come celebrate at the beach.

Post-graduation weekend is one of many weekends that tri-state residents flock to the Jersey Shore, boardwalk businesses reported. After two months of cloudy weather, businesses along the boardwalks are looking forward to the "true" start of summer.

Bubba DeMuro, owner of Bubbas Doghouse located on the Seaside Heights boardwalk and Kearney Avenue, is finally seeing an increase in faithful locals during his second summer at the shore.

DeMuro, along with friend and co-worker, Frank Rosenthal, hail from Lyndhurst although he makes the treck to his share house in Seaside for the summer. DeMuro opened his store in Seaside last summer, after finding success with his winter location on Warren Street in Newark. After Memorial Day weekend, DeMuro waits until July 4 for business to pick up.

"Everything is pretty dead until July 4th but from then on until the end of the summer, it gets crazy," DeMuro said. "I get more kids for prom [than graduation] because for prom weekends, everyone comes in from New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey."

Prom season lasts from the beginning of May until last weekend, according to DeMuro, who opened his store on Palm Sunday during an annual Easter egg hunt on the beach. DeMuro doesn't officially open his store until Memorial Day except for weekends, and doesn't close until Labor Day weekend. It's "hit or miss" after the holiday, according to DeMuro.

"If it's nice weather, you're going to get people down here," DeMuro said. "Sales are up [for my store] in comparison to last summer because I have more of a following this year; I have more locals."

While DeMuro hasn't seen too much of a change since high school graduations in the area, he notes it has been a little more crowded on the boardwalk. However, the majority of his customers are from North Jersey, Staten Island, Queens and New York. 

DeMuro also hopes that bringing the MTV  Jersey Shore  show back will boost sales, as it has done in past years.

Chelsea Sullivan, a manager at Kohr's Frozen Custard, has been working on the boardwalk for the past five years. 

"This summer has been slow compared to other years but our big weekends are Memorial Day weekend, 4th of July and probably Labor Day," Sullivan said. "It's been a little busier [since graduation] and this weekend will most likely be bigger."

Of course, wet weather puts a damper on business, Sullivan said.

Mark Fischetti, owner of the infamous "Shoot the Guido" boardwalk game, has been working on and off at the shore for the last eight years and agrees with Sullivan that success depends directly on the weather.

Fischetti's busiest weekends are similar to the others: Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day but "all of the weekends in July and August are busy."

The Shoot the Guido stand is expecting to receive a mock Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino for the game by the 4th of July weekend, one that Fischetti is anxiously anticipating a boost in business.

"What happens down here with the summer houses is that people come down and if they enjoy it and you're kind to them and you're nice, you have repeat customers and it bolsters your business," Fischetti said. 

Nicole Brello, a University of Tampa student from Oradell, joined her younger sister Michelle, a 2011 high school graduate, and family friend Nicole Woudenberg, a fellow graduate from North Haledon, in Seaside Heights for the weekend. 

"We come down for the boardwalk," said Nicole, whose grandmother owns a house near the boards. "We come down back and forth — whenever. All of our friends come down — [mostly] for Memorial Day weekend, it's the craziest. But then there's every other weekend."