Ready, or not, for summer

Suzie Harrison

The art banners have been hung in Laguna, as residents, retailers,

hotels, bars and restaurants prepare for the official kick-off of

summer and beginning of tourist season this Memorial Day weekend.

“The banners absolutely go up before Memorial Day to celebrate the

summer season,” city cultural arts manager Sian Poeschl said on

Wednesday. “The public works department started hanging the (42

banners) on Monday.”

Laguna Beach Visitors and Conference Bureau has been fielding

calls for months with people planning Memorial weekend vacations in

Laguna.

To help tourists, the Visitors Bureau will be open Saturday and

Monday, executive director Judy Bijlani said.

“The most-asked questions are about accommodations and restaurants

and which beaches to go to,” Bijlani said. “We’re here for everyone

in town; we keep the best information on hand to help make it easier

for people to experience more of Laguna Beach.”

She said quite a few hotels are at 100% occupancy.

Retailers welcome the busy holiday weekend and foot traffic it

brings.

“Memorial Day weekend is the start of our big sales time,” Hobie

Surf and Shop store manager Courtney Rickerl said. “It’s the way

summer is going to be every single day.”

Hobie hires additional employees and expands its hours to handle

the busy season.

“We have a good selection of women’s clothing, it takes up four of

our walls,” Rickerl said. “We’re ready -- we have our stock in and

keep it coming; we’re excited, we like it busy.”

Hobie carries swimsuits, sandals, sunglasses, skateboards,

bodyboards, skimboards, surfboards and such.

“We make sure we have all the gear to go to the beach,” Rickerl

said. “We just got a dozen boxes of beach chairs and all kinds of

beach toys.”

She said they have a good selection of sunglasses and carry Smith,

Hobie, Spy, Von Zipper, Haven and Electric.

“They all came out with brand new styles just this year, so there

are a lot of new styles out,” Rickerl said.

A new hot item is the Mick Fanning model, a Reef sandal.

“It has a bottle opener on the bottom; everyone that sees it gets

excited,” Rickerl said.

“Honolua Surf Company has a lot of new clothing for men,” she

continued. “It’s been really popular -- they’re owned by Billabong.”

Hobie’s surfboard and bodyboard rental fleet is beefed up to

accommodate the wave seekers.

Perched in a prime location, steps away from Main Beach, Coast

Hardware, general manager, John Ferrante said Memorial Day weekend is

usually a pretty busy time of year with a lot of tourist business.

“The sales for the summer are almost all related to tourist

business,” Ferrante said. “Everyone who walks in we hear, ‘you guys

carry everything.’”

Ferrante said sales are expected to increase by 10 to 15%.

“We have quite a bit of beach merchandise, tourist gift items,

decorative gifts, outdoor patio living and of course our flags and

patriotic, red, white and blue lighting and decorating items,”

Ferrante said.

Coast Hardware’s biggest sellers for the weekend include beach

chairs, towels and umbrellas.

He said his primary goal is to make sure that the store is well

stocked to serve the locals and their needs as well.

“The foot traffic is big with our four-day Memorial weekend sale

we have every year,” Ferrante said. “A lot of locals say they stay

here because they can’t go anywhere -- so it will be a little bit of

a different crowd.”

Local customers come in for items for Memorial weekend parties,

having guests and planning for a weekend of entertaining.

“We’ll be fully staffed; we know we’ll be busy,” Ferrante said.

White House Restaurant manager Jim Shultz said Memorial Day

weekend is one of the most profitable, just behind July 4 and Labor

Day.

Shultz expects Sunday and Monday to be the busiest of the holiday.

While he considers it the beginning of the summer, business starts to

pick up even more after school’s out. He’s noticed weekend traffic

already rising due to unseasonably warm temperatures.

“There’s definitely more people around even now,” he said.

Shultz said his drive time to work from Laguna Hills during the

tourist season doubles. “It makes it difficult to do reservations. If

it’s their first time in town, they don’t realize they have to allow

extra time for parking to be here on time. It’s all the fun of

summer, but people have to expect it and really have to plan for

parking.”

His advice is to be patient and have a good attitude.

Weather plays a big factor in the White House’s business. If

hotels are booked, even if the weather brings rain, crowds will come.

However, the crowds can stave off a lot of frequent customers from

surrounding communities.

“We get a lot of regulars,” Shultz said. “It’s nice to see the

same people -- they’re like family.”

While some locals complained off-the-record about the traffic and

crowds Memorial Day weekend brings, most were looking forward to

summer.

“To me, it means three eight- to 10-hour days at the beach,

playing volleyball with my friends and surfing,” Chad Cunningham

said. “It’s the start of the summer and I’m looking forward to it. I

definitely walk everywhere Memorial Day weekend. I don’t get in my

car -- that’s for sure.”

Monica Jackson said Memorial Day weekend signifies that it’s

officially summer.

“The crowds start coming in,” Jackson said. “I’ll take alternate

routes getting in and out of town, but I’m excited in the sense that

summer is coming; it’s my favorite season.”

Jackson said Memorial Day, more importantly, is a time to honor

people who have given their lives to protect freedom.

Jeff Mourer said he welcomes the tourists but leaves his car at

home on weekends due to traffic woes.