Indoor Dining Helps Struggling New Jersey Businesses During Labor Day Weekend
OCEAN CITY, N.J. (CBS) - Today marks the unofficial end to the summer and a lot of people are flocking to the Jersey Shore to enjoy what's left of the season. And that's music to the ears of struggling business owners.
It's safe to say this summer has been like no other summer. Many business owners and people down the shore say that this summer is ending a lot better than it started.
Indoor dining resumed just in time for Labor Day, at the start of summer for Memorial Day, outdoor dining started showing just how far the state went in the fight against the coronavirus.
For the restaurants in Ocean City and elsewhere in the state, indoor dining can take place at 25% capacity. Also, arcade games and boardwalk attractions were slowly allowed again.
Business owners say the return to normalcy has been slow but welcomed.
"2020 has not been good. So it has been tough, for all of us, because we just didn't have the capacity," Anna Palmieri from Litterer's Food Court said. "At that point, we weren't allowed to put seating out until just recently, too. So it has been hard. It's going to be a hard winter."
Bethany Devoy from Ocean City Cafe said, "It's welcomed to get a little bit back to normal, to have people sitting inside again. It was a little weird at first on Friday because we haven't been used to it but now it feels like old times a little bit."
Many of the businesses in Ocean City say they will stay open for as long as they can. The town also says they plan on keeping their lifeguards on duty at least through the end of September.
