Jul 6, 2009

Crowds help shore merchants breathe easierBy Juliet FletcherPressofAtlanticCity.com

Atlantic City — Last week, Judy Urban admits, she felt she was walking on eggshells – or seashells. Preparing for the make-or-break weekend of the summer season, after a month of rainy weather, she would pace around her family’s Discovery shell museum and gift shop in Ocean City, replenishing boxes of starfish and straightening a display of piranhas on little metal stands.

Dreading the effects of the bad economy, Urban had to wonder whether customers’ continuing reticence to spend money would nibble away at the shop’s Fourth of July business.

“I’ve got to admit, this was a surprise,” Urban said Sunday, at the end of what she called a weekend rush. The tiny shop and museum had been packed, she said, with more than 100 paying customers on Saturday alone.

“And that didn’t count people browsing,” she beamed.

Across the region’s shore towns, visitors stormed the sands and streets this weekend, surprising and sometimes overwhelming business owners. For many guests, a trip to the beach remained part of their summer tradition – and even an affordable last-minute getaway.

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