TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WSAV) – Tybee Island businesses saw a renewed hope this Memorial Day after a slower than usual holiday weekend.
With the rain and clouds driving away the normal flock of visitors, store owners say they were relying on Monday to make up for what is usually a high-profit weekend.
“We were expecting that big Friday rush when everyone gets here and they all want ice cream, and we didn’t get that which was disappointing, and then kind of the same thing Saturday,” says Dawson James, food manager of Boardwalk Ice Cream.
Things started to look up Sunday when the skies cleared, and it appears the momentum only picked up from there, with the usual beach crowd emerging on the holiday.
“Yesterday was really busy, even though the sun wasn’t out, so hopefully today we’ll be really rocking,” says Rachel Jones who owns Rachel’s Beach Bites.
Both Jones and James say they rely on summer holidays for a good portion of their profit, with Memorial Day being the first major money-maker.
“It’s incredibly important because we’re so seasonal,” says Jones, “Even though Tybee has turned into a year-round town, it’s still pretty seasonal because we have ice cream, and we really count on the beach traffic to come out.”
In the holiday weekend’s final hours, the crowds signaled a successful ending to an important weekend for businesses.
“It’s the start of summer, it’s Monday, everyone is tired of being inside their house,” says James, and I’ve already seen a bunch of crowds walking by, they’re gonna come they’re gonna want ice cream, and that’s when it’s really gonna pick up for us.”
