South Jersey shore merchants seeing a sunbeam of great business

CBS Philadelphia


Mike Dougherty, KYW Newsradio 1060


Business is booming "down the shore," and Mother Nature is getting lots of the credit.

Forecasts like that one have been the norm lately, and that's music to the ears of merchants at the shore.

EJ Dougherty, part owner of a pair of restaurants in Wildwood, says business this year is surpassing even last year's great numbers.

"June was up about five percent and July is trending about the same way," he tells KYW Newsradio.

Tracey DuFault, with the Wildwood Chamber of Commerce, says another reason for the increase in business is that some people are choosing to take several short trips to the shore instead of hopping a plane to a faraway destination.

"We have our weekend vacationers, where people are taking several weekends throughout the summer," she says, "so that's always wonderful to see."

DuFault says many hotels and condos were sold out for the Fourth of July weekend and she expects more of the same for the rest of the summer.