PASS-A-GRILLE, Fla. — Business owners were anxiously waiting to see if the holiday season would be severely impacted by COVID-19.
Thankfully, family-owned business owners in Pass-A-Grille say their sales this year exceeded expectations.
"I can speak for my fellow retailers I think and say that we exceeded our expectations and we are kind of on the mark," Amy Loughery said.
Loughery owns two businesses on 8th Avenue, Bamboozle and ETC.
"I think it’s good news I feel like today January 1st here we go this could be a great year," Loughery said.
It has been a tough year for Loughery. Shutdowns happened right before Spring Break, their busiest time of year.
"I never made up what I lost in March and April I would be surprised that would be wonderful if somebody did I just had to write that right off," Loughery said. " I would say if I could add the 6 weeks I lost in it would be a fabulous year."
In November, Loughery suffered some flood damage from tropical storm ETA. Another reminder that even with a pandemic, coastal communities, are vulnerable to even more forces out of our control.
Pass-a-Grille is a quaint beach town that depends on loyal customers and locals to stay alive.
"We all work together everybody sends each other across the street we want everybody to go in every store try every restaurant because our pass a grille experience is really special," Loughery said. "The gratification we got from our customers coming back and supporting us really was encouraging. We felt the love. And hopefully they felt it too."
