By:Chris Munzing
"I'm not surprised at all," said Michael Kerr, vice president of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce. "It's a booming place."
While neighboring communities like Island Park and Oceanside boast a laundry list of franchises, Long Beach is catching up. "I think that the franchisees recognize the popularity of the City of Long Beach," said chamber President Lawrence Elovich. "More and more businesses are coming in.
"Long Beach has the lowest commercial vacancy rate on Long Island," he added. "Right now we're at around 2 percent. I expect by the summer our vacancy rate will be 1 percent."
Since opening last month, the Coldstone has earned quite a reputation around town for its decadent offerings (reporter's note: try the cake batter flavor), and it is setting records for the length of the lines people are willing to stand on.
Aram Gadarigian, the owner, said that he could have put his store anywhere and attracted the same business during the winter. But it was the "summer surge" in Long Beach that Gadarigian said drew him here.
"I used to visit an old boss who lived here, and I knew that the city would be the perfect place to start a business," he said. "All the people coming out to the beach. It's a really great town, and it has a city feeling."
Kerr and Elovich both credited the demographics of Long Beach for its attractiveness to businesses looking to move in. "You have a lot of younger people settling down and raising families, so it's not surprising," Kerr said.
In addition to the Long Beach customer base, the barrier island offers something that few communities can, according to Kerr. "It's just the natural beauty of the city," he said. "People enjoy our beaches, and it's just a beautiful place."
The city is in the fortunate position of being a prime destination for out-of-towners during the summer months, offering many eating and drinking establishments blocks from the beach and the train.
"We have the most beautiful natural resources anywhere in Nassau County," Elovich said. "We pick up 100,000 people a day in the summer who wouldn't normally be there."
"The services provided by the city are second to none," Kerr added. "We provide our own buses, everything."
