CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Many people spend their summers going away to vacation destinations. Here in the Coastal Bend, the Island is a popular destination for tourists during certain parts of the year.
However, for many Island businesses, the end of Summer and Labor Day means seeing less customers for at least a few months.
One of the businesses seeing fewer customers is Island Joe’s Coffee and Gallery. It’s owner, Bryan Tumlinson, said they had a great summer, but he’s already been seeing less customers come after Labor Day.
He said that could also be attributed to kids going back to school. He said weekends are more popular because more people have those days off.
However, he said there is one group of people he can count on when the crowds go away: the locals.
“The locals want to come to our place too and they see the lines and they say oh maybe not, but now it’s a little bit more chill. It also gives time for our baristas to not be working so hard,” Tumlinson said.
Similarly, Glenn Mier, owner of the Angry Marlin, said locals usually come around more after the Summer because they want to avoid the crowds. He said as president of the Coastal Bend Restaurant Association, he sees a slowing trend in restaurant crowds after the summer. He said that means he doesn’t need as big of a staff working for him.
He said crowds will also start picking up around November when the Winter Texans come around.
However, he said COVID-19 has had an impact on his business in different ways last year than this year.
“With COVID, our numbers, everything is a little different right now, because last year people didn’t go back to school. Our summer didn’t end. It kind of kept going until the weather changed it,” Mier said.
Third Coast Beach Company is a clothing and souvenir store out on the Island and said the slower months for them are the winter months.
“December, November, around those months. I know the week of the holidays, those are busier weeks but those are like the slowest months because it’s always cold,” Kaitlinn Suarez, their manager, said.
She said while products like their pressed T-shirts and souvenirs do well all year long, sales do drop after Labor Day.
All three businesses said that business would pick up around March when tourists come back for Spring Break.
