With another surf competition in town and Thanksgiving on the way, Pismo Beach businesses are seeing a boost in sales during the off-season.
All of our recent rain could not keep competitors or the crowds that watch them away from the USA Surfing Prime Series in Pismo Beach. Every athlete, family member, and spectator brought their spending money with them, which gives local businesses a boost as they head into the holiday season.
April Malhiot comes to the beach at least four times a week. Surfing competitors like the one this weekend typically bring in a new crowd to the boardwalk.
“This seems to be a select crowd for the surfing competition with everything going on and not a lot of the valley's here like it was the last couple of weeks,” Malhiot said.
The Breezeway Cafe manager, Chaz Aragon, told me there's a lot more foot traffic leading into their morning breakfast rush... especially compared to last weekend. Rain kept a lot of people off the streets despite the Surfing for Hope Longboard Classic.
“It's been a big jump from our last weekend, which was bad as well because of the rain," Aragon said. "The rain was really detrimental to the business.”
Though the competition is in town, local businesses tell me that’s not the reason they’re seeing a boost in sales. Thanksgiving Break is giving more people free time to come down to the beach in the off-season.
Don McKee owns Pancho’s surf shop. He brings in additional staff around this time each year to prepare as shoppers get kept a head start before the holiday season officially kicks off.
“We prep for Thanksgiving," McKee said. "It's just businesses ran on seasons and especially downtown Pismo.”
He said there is an incredible difference between this Saturday’s crowd and last week's. Having good weather in the off-season, especially around holidays, is something local businesses depend on.
“It's everything," McKee said. "I mean, knowing that you're going to have that income and, you know, the revenue coming in through the town, it's like you just expect it now, you know."
McKee said they anticipate more visitors as the week progresses.
