There wasn’t a sticky bun to be found at Madison’s Bakery in Cape May by noon on Sunday — and that was a good sign.
The Beach Avenue bakery sold out of most of its sweet treats, which employee Samantha King said was a good problem to have especially with how tough the pandemic has had on local businesses in the shore town.
Sunshine and temperature in the 70s brought more traffic to the southernmost Jersey Shore town this weekend, but with restrictions put in place by Gov. Phil Murphy and local officials to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, businesses say they’re struggling — some to the point where they may not be able to recover.
“It has definitely been trying, especially since we’re opening another location right on the Washington Street Mall in the middle of a pandemic,” King said. "That has been a little tough. Normally, we would have been open the second week in March. Our usual clientele was used to having us open a couple of weeks ago, so they have not been able to come in and get things, so that hurts a small business.”
Mohamed Abdel-Salam, owner of Louie's Pizza in Cape May, makes a pizza, Sunday, May 3, 2020.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
With Murphy reversing the closures of some of the parks and beaches coupled with the warm and sunny weather, many people took the opportunity to visit state and county parks this weekend, take a walk on the sand to see the ocean or ride a bike around their favorite Jersey Shore town. The extra people allowed businesses allowed to be open to garner the much-needed business after the coronavirus forced several changes to how they operate.
Behind Madison’s Bakery, longtime Louie’s Pizza Owner Mohamed Abdel-Salam was preparing a pie to place in the oven. Abdel-Salam finds himself in the same predicament as other eateries in the city. Adbel-Salam was happy to see an uptick in traffic — and sales — this weekend, but he was worried about the long-term future of his business and others that were surrounding him.
“The weekend has been great, but the business is doing terrible because the hotels do not rent to anybody, and that affects us,” Abdel-Salam said. “ As long as the hotels are closed, we cannot do anything.”
Lauren Breeze, of Cape May, picks up an order of ice cream from Dustin Piccolo co-owner of Fine Fellows Creamery in Cape May, Sunday, May 3, 2020.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Down the street, Fine Fellows Creamery co-owner Dustin Piccolo was serving up Moosetracks and Guatemalan Ripple ice cream the people have come to know in Cape May. Piccolo said they have had to adjust to the new normal, only opening on weekends, and taking extra precautions to make sure the food and customers’ safety remain on par.
“We were closed for three weeks just to make sure that everything was cleaned in the shop sanitize everything in the shop to make sure that we keep everyone safe,” Piccolo said. “We are not allowing people to come into the shop, and are just doing the curbside pickups. We are also changing gloves every single time we have a customer and using hand sanitizer to make sure they remain safe."
At the tip of New Jersey in Cape May Point, there were a large number of people, distanced appropriately, walking about the beach, with some children taking the time to play in the sand and intermittently running to the Atlantic Ocean.
Michale Neil, of Erial, gives his 14-month-old daughter Autumn a snack while visiting Cape May Point, Sunday, May 3, 2020.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Erial resident Michael Neal was at Cape May Point beach with his family. Neal said it was a good escape after being inside for an extended period of time.
“It is nice to be out and just enjoying the weather,” Neal said. “We have been confined in the house with the kids, and we were losing our minds. It is nice to have some space and get out. There is something calming about the ocean."
Atlantic City is one of the few Jersey Shore towns that left its boardwalk — even though all the casinos and hotels have been shuttered. The warm weather, however, brought more people to the resort town on Sunday.
The boardwalk itself was bustling with people riding bikes, jogging, or walking along with their families.
People enjoy a warm day on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, Sunday, May 3, 2020.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
People enjoy a warm day on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, Sunday, May 3, 2020.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
At the boardwalk entrance near South Rhode Island Avenue, several vehicles were packed close together, with silver and blue balloons that spelled out happy birthday hanging outside of them. Outside of the vehicles, 17 people were together, celebrating the guest of honor’s birthday.
While it may have been a good day for visitors who have been quarantining at home for weeks on end, not everyone was enjoying the situation. Standing outside their boardwalk businesses, Asif Ansari and Mohamed Salam looked at what could have been. Ansari owns a clothing and souvenir shop on the 1500 block of the boardwalk, while Salam owns Mario’s Pizza. Ansari and Salam had been experiencing a healthy amount of business before the pandemic struck. Now, the two are having an extremely tough time, with Ansari being closed altogether.
“We do not know if we will be able to open when this is done,” Ansari said. “That is how bad it is. We do not have the rent money. We hope our landlords will work with us. We even have not gotten any help from the government.”
Ansari added he has also seen a majority of people not wearing masks as they move about the boardwalk, estimating 80% of the people he saw not wearing any form of facial protection of PPE such as masks.
“I still see about 80 percent of people walking around without a mask,” Ansari said. “It is dangerous for us, and I do not feel safe.”
Richard Burke, manager of Big G's Tattoos on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, stand by a closed sign, Sunday, May 3, 2020.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Their business neighbor Richard Burke is also displeased with the predicament he currently is in with Big G’s Tattoo’s. As the manager of the tattoo parlor, and investor to the next door amusement game business, Burke was sitting on a bench instead of helping customers, he was trying to find assistance for his $84,000 lease and is facing the possibility of not being able to pay the rent.
“I do not know when we’re going to open up again, and I’m very stressed out,” Burke said. “I just want the governor to get off his a** and help the small businesses out. We need to open up. We need to get Atlantic City back, and we need to go to work now.”
Fred and Arlene, of Philadelphia, relax on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, Sunday, May 3, 2020.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.
Chris Franklin Here may be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com.
Tim Hawk may be reached at thawk@njadvancemedia.com.
"like this" - Google News
May 04, 2020 at 09:23AM
https://ift.tt/3fiyKZh
This weekend was nice, but we can’t survive like this, Jersey Shore businesses say - NJ.com
"like this" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2MWhj4t
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
No comments:
Post a Comment