When the crowds come to the shore for Memorial Day weekend, they’re bringing their business. Belmar’s beaches and boardwalk appeal to visitors and the Shore’s locals.

“We're from northeast Philly, and we come to Belmar because it's close, it's clean, it's family oriented,” said Rachel Mellis, of Philadelphia.

“Oh, this is one of the best things in life right here,” said Jason Morton, of Trenton. “We've been having rain, we've been having snow, we've been having sleet. Just look at the weather out here. It's just beautiful.”

Belmar’s business community wants the foot traffic to extend to Main Street.

“This Friday, we celebrated our eighth year,” said David Hernandez, the owner of LoFiDelic Records. “We're trying to make Belmar a little hip for the younger crowd that comes in and shops.”

“We just want to have the community come in, not just as shoppers, but as family members,” said Tommy Robertozzi, of Vintage on Ninth.

These small businesses are open all year, but this is the season they count on.

“We consider this, on the Jersey Shore, the unofficial start of summer,” Hernandez said. “We all look forward to it, especially when we have long, cold, boring winters.”

“Everybody's going out, the weather's nice. It's been a great weekend,” Robertozzi said. “You see it getting packed. We're really excited for all June, July and August, and kind of just getting Belmar back to how it usually is over the summer.”