Business owners were told at the recent SID budget hearing that one of the things the SID did for them was to purchase billboard space on the Turnpike to bring them customers.
Nice billboard. Chefs International should be happy about being featured so prominently. Not sure about the center photo but it looks to me like something that might be served at Brandls. (Personally, when I’m spending $25 for dinner I like to see a little more food on my plate than that…..Maybe somebody already ate some of it.)
Here’s the thing, though. An alert reader, let’s call her Miss S., went to the advertised web address, Come2Belmar.com. Now one would expect it to take you to a page listing all the different fun ways to spend money in Belmar, right? I’ve noticed the billboard on my way home from work and assumed it sent people to the Tourism page.
Well to her and my amazement, the link www.come2belmar.com actually brings people to this, the SID home page!
Where readers are told:
The BBP is here to help you discover why Belmar is a great place to have your business. We will assist you in starting, promoting, and improving various aspects of your business. We provide free advertising to get you noticed. We have Facade grants that assist you in making your physical location more inviting to your customers. We sponsor local events bringing more visitors into Belmar. The BBP also invest in enhancing the towns overall appearance. We make Belmar look good! Contact us and let us be a friend and helping hand for your business.
So actually, the thousands of dollars that business owners in town were forced to put up for this billboard wasn’t spent to promote their businesses to potential customers, it was spent to sell Belmar and the SID to potential business competitors! While it might theoretically help some commercial landlords with vacant space they want to lease, that’s a small percentage of the people who are actually paying the SID tax. All the rest are paying to bring competitors to town who could take customers away from them.
And the town can’t understand why some business owners are less than grateful about all this.
12 Comments
Cool trick! …. SID tax existing businesses and use the money for a Chefs International advertisement …. where Chefs International is probably not paying a SID tax …. because they are on Borough property….
Reminds me of the BUY-A-BOARD bait & switch rip off…….
After borrowing $600K in 2012 to pave the Acme parking lot (now a patch job) …. I’m just waiting to be told that residential property taxpayers must bankroll a municipal parking garage for all the big ventures ….
Come2Belmar, or did I mean Barmar?
Bars, bars, bars.
SID should work to make the town more family friendly. Get all the drunks shouting on the boardwalk at 2 am cleared out.
Actually limiting bars is a town ordinance-by declaration. See: Belmar.com, ,municipal, online records and Ordinance 17-4.1. It refers to NJ Municipal Law, allowing any municipality to limit year-round retail liquor licenses to 1 per 2000 residents. So we have the law. Jack’s Tavern + Connolly Station + Boathouse ==6000 residents.
Each year, when the S.I.D. conversation
occurs in this small town, I am humored.
As a retired businessman and former Chamber of Commerce president, I know what it takes not only to succeed and to fail but to gather consensus. So this year, I have decided to post this year’s winners and losers.
WINNER; Mr. Shrimp, Rt. 71, Belmar. Mr. Shrimp gets the least from the S.I.D.. A couple of feet and it is Wall Twp. best restaurant. Mr. Shrimp has been consistantly the #1 restaurant ( actually #3 after Italian ice and cupcakes) on the national restaurant review service “Tripadvisor”. It consistently beats out Brandl’s #16.
Winners: Mayor Doherty and Maggie Moran. They consistently use their social media to state they are dining in Belmar.
Loser: Tom Burke, who proclaims Belmar restaurants while posting that he and Joyce are having great food in Avon-By-the-Sea.
Losers: Belmar taxpayers, who allow the BBP to state that businesses will get “free” advertising.
DEAR BUSINESS GUY:
I take offense to being told where I should eat!! Tom Burke and his wife dine in Belmar as well as many of the surrounding communities and in fact, our dinner tonight was enjoyed at Federici’s on 10th – in BELMAR and that choice had nothing to do with your post as it was not seen until after returning home. You cannot tell me that you or anyone else eats ONLY in Belmar, as I would tend to doubt it! I happen to enjoy the numerous varieties of food and restaurants nearby. I believe that Belmar’s #2 rated restaurant on “tripadvisor” leaves a lot to be desired. The smell of fried food and old fish is a real turn off. It is totally lacking in atmosphere and it is loud and over priced. With so many other fabulous places to choose from, your “WINNER” is near the top of my “LOSER” list.
Because I’m on a restricted diet …. we don’t dine out very often …. I’m just as happy with a roll in bed with honey.
Did “The Wife” actually just dis a Belmar restaurant? That can’t be good for business (I mean politics).
Nobody in the whole town knows what good food is. Bunch of fools.
Poor Mr. Shrimp what a nasty remark for one nice restaurant. The menu offers one
of the best lunches at such a reasonable price and the dinner menu the same.
But the food the food is what it is about
it’s great. Each restaurant has it’s own thing but the opinion offered above doesn’t reflect in the amount of diners
that eat there. There are many. I hope politics isn’t entering the restaurants
too.
I like Shrimp, I eat it often. As far as I know when and where I eat shrimp has nothing to do with politics. To suggest someone in ‘dis”ing a particular shrimp eating location has anything at all to do with politics is ridiculous. For one person to see it that way may be ok, but when others promote the political implication I have to wonder about the motive.
Shrimp lover- I did not suggest… anything it was a quote. It is politics only in the sense that it is a Belmar business that is thriving and from what I see does not impact the town in any negative way (slightly different than other well supported drinking establishments. For “the wife”to make such negative comments is sad. Very sad. And not very bright for someone who’s husband may have political aspirations.
Shrimp lover – I was not suggesting anything, I was quoting “The wife”. Making such negative comments about a very successful Belmar business was not very smart. Belmar drinking establishments seem to be held in a higher regard than Mr. Shrimp. To make such a negative comment when “the husband” has political aspirations was not very smart at all.
Post a Comment