Wildwood businesses mourn lost weekend after power fully restored
WILDWOOD, N.J. - After a long weekend with no power, Wildwood is now fully restored. But, for visitors as well as business owners, it all feels like too little, too late. A lost summer weekend can be detrimental.
The summer season is 100 days and that’s the theme heard over and over again in Wildwood. Businesses say those two days that were lost without power really add up.
It’s back to business as usual on the boardwalk in Wildwood, after the power went out late Friday morning. Crews worked around the clock to restore all power to the island early Sunday.
"Nighttime was really scary, because it was very dark and there was no light," 5th grader Leah Allen said.
"We decided to stick it out and make the best of it. We walked the boardwalk and found some restaurants that had power downtown. It was hard to find food and even water," Lancaster resident Lee Allen stated.
A fire at a substation for Atlantic City Electric left more than 24,000 people in the dark for more than 40 hours, during one of the busiest times of the year, affecting visitors and locals alike, but really hitting businesses hard in their wallets.
"When something like that happens, it’s very frustrating and, so far, it’s been a very bad start of the summer," Jordan Yordanov, with Polish Water Ice said. "It was really cold and this? We finally started to make money around Fourth of July and this comes and I’m like, what’s going on?"
And, just when the shore finally bounced back from COVID last year, this was the last thing managers at places like Splash Zone – places that have such a small window to make the money to pay their employees – ever expected.
"Nobody wants to give refunds, obviously, and we want people to come back and even if it’s not this season, we’re inviting people to come back next season," Ellen Tsakiris with Splash Zone Water Park said. "We’re giving them vouchers to come back. You know, food vouchers and stuff like that."
"These are your mom and pop places. These are not major corporations with deep pockets," John Donio, with Daytona Inn and Suites, explained. "These are a lot of people that have big mortgages and they put all their money on the line and their time on the line."
Donio has owned Daytona Inn and Suites for 23 years. He says even though the outage was out of anyone’s control, most people just wanted better communication from everyone involved. He says a lot of places are trying to do the right thing, even if it’s just a small gesture, but it’s not always easy.
"Because the last thing we want to do is leave a bad taste in the mouth of the guests. When you’re leaving Wildwood, we wanna make sure that they leave knowing, hey, these guys are really trying to take care of us. They’re trying to do what’s best," Donio added.
Some places are giving a refund, some are getting a credit for another visit in the future, but some places say because of those 100 days, they just simply can’t afford to give any kind of discount at all.