The Changing Seven Mile Business Landscape
It’s funny how life can often imitate art. For example, a U.S. government website provides the following definition of a barrier island: “… while it provides steady protection for the mainland, it is anything but steady … it is in a constant state of flux and ever changing.” When it comes to the Seven Mile Beach, while that description is meant to describe the island’s ever-shifting sands on the ocean side, curiously it is also accurate in describing life behind the beaches.
Although changes occur after each summer, the business landscape on the Seven Mile Beach could be altered this winter more than normal. Although Smuggler’s Cove closed its doors in October 2020, the building remained as a friendly reminder of the location that served as a marine service center for more than 70 years. Sadly, that remainder was razed in October, almost a year to the day after its doors closed for the final time.
Meanwhile, in Avalon, Sylvester’s Fish Market and Restaurant closed its doors on Sept. 11 and brought a close to a chapter that lasted 74 years, opening in 1947 as Shute’s Fish Market.
Around the corner, Tonio’s served its last customers on Oct. 30, after nearly 30 years at that location where a restaurant had been since the 1940s. Tonio Galdi closed both his pizza shop and seafood shack. Included in the parcel is a residential unit at 24th Street that was a local favorite restaurant known as Virginia Lou’s in the 1950s and ’60s. Tonio’s is expected to be replaced by residential units, which makes sense since both locations were grandfathered as nonconforming commercial use.
Both of the restaurant owners talked about the difficulty of doing business in 2021.
“We put in almost 30 years,” says Galdi. “But things have changed … It got a lot harder. The food costs, trying to get and keep help, it became very difficult.”
Bill Selgrath, who purchased Sylvester’s from the Sylvester family in 2002, echoed many of the same sentiments. “I just think that it’s time,” he says.
Perhaps the same can be said for Drew Buchanan, who operated Circle Pizza in Avalon and carried on the legacy of a family pizza business that started in 1969 at 23rd Street and Ocean Drive. “I can’t believe that I’m not doing it any longer,” says Buchanan, who sold the location on Oct. 1.
Unlike the Tonio’s and Sylvester’s locations, the corner of 21st Street and Dune Drive looks like it will remain a thriving dining destination. Alex Lissette, the new owner of the location that housed Circle Pizza since 1978, says he expects to continue the pizza tradition as well as introduce a seafood restaurant for the summer of 2022. “We’re really excited to get our feet on the ground,” he says, “and experience a traditional summer in Avalon.”
The Coldwell Banker real estate office on Avalon’s Dune Drive also sold this fall. No details yet on what if anything might change on that location that opened as a quick service sector restaurant called Town Meeting in 1974. And the entire block at 26th Street and Dune Drive – encompassing The Spot, Tortilla Flats, Nemo’s Pizza, Avalon Nails, and Shades of Avalon – has been for sale since 2020.
Regardless of what may happen to the block, you should probably plan on some changes at Tortilla Flats. Operated by Linda Schwartz and her family since the summer of 1983, Schwartz posted a note on Nov. 4 stating that she intends to retire after closing this fall and was looking for someone interested in taking over her operation. The note also said: “We are humbled that countless families and friends have chosen Tortilla Flats to feed life’s moments, big and little.”
Another question mark lies in Avalon on 21st Street at Ocean Drive. Long the site of Phillips’ Exxon station and more recently Z’s Market, the block also includes the former sites of Avalon Furniture and Schimek’s 21st Street Market. Demolition took place back in May and the concrete pad was cleared in early November. Now, the question is whether retail, hospitality or residential will take the space. Or perhaps some mix of the three?
Change, it seems is inevitable in resort towns. At least it has been that way in Avalon and Stone Harbor for more than 100 years. Let’s face it, no one likes change. Hahn’s and Henny’s closed in Stone Harbor before the explosion of social media. Had the opportunity to express on social media existed at that time, customers and friends would surely have expressed the same sorrow and grief that those of Sylvester’s, Tonio’s, and Tortilla Flats have done recently.
The reality is that the business landscape on the Seven Mile Beach will evolve much like the island itself has, time and time again. Not only do we survive, but change allows each town to grow and change with time. Walt Disney may have said it best: “Times and conditions change so rapidly that we must keep our aim constantly focused on the future.” It will be exciting to watch what the future holds for these locations.