Singin’ the June Biz Blues
Weekdays in Montauk this month have been almost as quiet as the days after Tumbleweed Tuesday, following Labor Day, when legend has it that the hamlet is so slow you can see tumbleweeds blowing through instead of people.
It’s a trend that Bill Becker of Becker’s Hardware has noticed for the past few years, he said on Tuesday. Business in the store picks up on Friday afternoons and then slows again by Monday.
Some business owners say it’s because Memorial Day came early this year and schools are getting out later. Others blame the weather, which Tom Flight of Homeport, Captain Kid Toys, and other stores in the Gosman complex in the harbor area said caused him to have a “disastrous” opening week. His two stores downtown, Homeport Town and Shine, have fared a bit better, especially, he said, during the farmers market held on Thursdays on the downtown green near those two stores.
Mr. Flight said he checks his numbers daily to compare them to previous years and has found a slight drop, but nothing that a few sunny days and more vacationers won’t fix. “We really get the school’s-out crowd down at the docks,” he said.
Diane Hausman, an owner of the Sands Motel downtown, said June is always a bit quieter than the rest of the season, but room reservations are faring well for the rest of the summer.
At the Oceanside Beach Resort, owned by Ken Walles, capacity for June is at about 70 percent. He said he adjusts his room rates on his website and on Booking.com to attract more guests during the lull. In July the place is usually 90 to 95 percent full, and in August it increases to 102 percent, he said, since he can rebook rooms that become available because of early checkouts.
Some restaurant owners are sending their help home early during June, and others are open only Thursday through Sunday until the Fourth of July weekend. Steven Raysor, the manager at Swallow East, a restaurant in the harbor area, blames the weather for the weekday lull. “After the Fourth we’re expecting a really good season,” he said.
At Martell’s Stationery, a variety store that sells newspapers, magazines, and vacation-type toys and crafts for children, among other things, Jim Martell said business this month has been slower than in previous years. “It’s all weather-oriented,” he said, adding that people don’t seem to have disposable income to pay for traditional extras. “I don’t think anyone is doing a booming business during the week.”
Even the cab drivers are experiencing less nighttime business, said Peter Lucas, who drives for Pink Tuna Taxi. On weekends, he said, there are too many cabs, and during the week when outsiders leave to do business elsewhere, the local cabs cannot supplement their income because there is not enough business.
The good news, though, is that the Fourth of July is right around the corner and there will be fireworks, said Laraine Creegan of the Montauk Chamber of Commerce.