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Irene was a total wipeout for the bottom line of beach-area shop owners.
“I lost about 90 percent of my business!” wailed Cyril Fitzsimons, owner of Cyril’s Fish House in Amagansett, LI. “I lost a s- – -load of money.”
East End restaurants forced to close in preparation for the storm suffered huge losses — at a time of the year that’s crucial for seasonal spots.
“These weekends are extremely important for businesses here. This carries us for the rest of the year,” said Diane Katsipis, owner of the MTK Café in Montauk.
She put her weekend losses at 75 percent.
Even the ever-popular Jersey Shore took a financial hit.
Businesses along the coastline may not be cleaned up in time to benefit from the coming beautiful weather and Labor Day weekend, said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
“There is no question there is going to be significant business losses,” Christie said at an afternoon press conference yesterday. “With the exception of probably the Fourth of July, this is the busiest time you have at the Jersey Shore.”
But risk-taking owners were rewarded. Those who braved the elements found themselves busier than usual.
“I figured it wouldn’t be that bad,” said Tom McCormack, co-owner of Ronnie’s Deli in Montauk, adding that he could barely keep up with the influx of customers.
“Since we’re the only ones open, it actually helped us out a bit.”
Despite limited damage in the Hamptons, business owners were fearful that vacationers who had left before the storm wouldn’t return for the lucrative Labor Day weekend.
“This could definitely kill a lot of momentum for the summer going into Labor Day,” said Keith Davis, owner of The Golden Pear, which has several locations in the area.
“I’m just hoping people still come out, but I can see us losing 10 to 25 percent of our business next weekend because of this storm,” he added.
In Long Beach, LI, Andrew Loucas, co-owner of the Laurel Luncheonette, said the $3,000 he shelled out for a generator was the only thing that kept him open yesterday.
“We lost power about 8 a.m., and we were able to open around 11 a.m.,” he said.
“We had a little bit of water and sand coming in. It took us a little while to mop it up.”
Loucas said that despite being understaffed and offering a limited menu, he was still doing brisk business.
“We’re the only ones open right now. We’re hopeful we’ll be able to recoup what we lost,” he said.
Also in Long Beach, organizers of the Quicksilver Pro Surfing Tournament, slated to begin Thursday, said there was no talk of canceling the two-week event.
And with Atlantic City casinos shuttered for just the third time in 33 years, many gambling houses were suffering the kinds of losses their customers are used to.
The Tropicana Casino and Resort lost about $4 million in gaming revenue because of the evacuation.
Additional reporting by Erin Calabrese