Myrtle Beach aims to ring in 2013 with street party

A busier-than-expected New Year’s holiday in downtown Myrtle Beach has again spurred talk of the beach organizing a street-festival-feel event to ring in 2013.

Downtown business leaders already are talking about potential ways to usher in 2013, while still reveling in how good this past New Year’s weekend was thanks to nice weather, decent gas prices and low, off-season lodging rates. Throw in a street party – with bands, fireworks, other entertainment along Ocean Boulevard – and business leaders say you’ve got a perfect combination for a go-to New Year’s event.

“There’s definitely a desire for that,” said DeAnn Sarver, owner of Boardwalk Coffee House. “It would just be the place to come. There are so many people in town; they are looking for something to do.”

It’s not a new idea. A street party organized by Myrtle Beach-based Global Attractions Development and Management to ring in 2010 lured about 5,000 revelers to Ocean Boulevard, sparking an interest that hasn’t waned, with downtown officials fielding dozens of calls asking if the party would happen again.

Global Attractions hasn’t done the New Year’s party since, and officials there could not be reached Tuesday to find out why. But others are interested in picking up where that group left off, said Dave Sebok, executive director of the Myrtle Beach Downtown Redevelopment Corp.

“That first one was successful,” he said. “We have had people – both businesses and visitors – ask since that first one, looking for it to happen again. There are people who are interested in doing something for [this coming] New Year’s. We’ll be talking to those people and seeing what their ideas are.”

Based on the calls and the traffic downtown during New Year’s this past weekend, there’s plenty of demand, leaders say. It’s not as if Myrtle Beach doesn’t have other New Year’s parties – with businesses throwing their own celebrations and a big bash at Broadway at the Beach – but this would fill a niche because it would be a beachside street festival, downtown businesses said.

“We think the beach would be a fun place to spend New Year’s Eve,” Sebok said. More folks are choosing to celebrate at the coast, so many this year that some downtown businesses were caught off guard and had to call in extra staff to handle the rush. Dirty Don’s Oyster Bar & Grill on the boardwalk closed at 8 p.m. New Year’s Eve, thinking revelers would be headed to parties by then.

“We had people tugging on the doors,” said Rebecca Utley, Dirty Don’s manager. “There were people everywhere.”

Dirty Don’s had a summer pace of sales on New Year’s Eve and could have hit those peak marks if it had stayed open longer as it does in the summer, Utley said.

The Grand Strand traditionally has an off-season flurry of business for New Year’s, according to Coastal Carolina University’s Clay Brittain Jr. Center for Resort Tourism. Headed into the New Year’s weekend, lodging occupancy was expected to hit between 40 percent and 45 percent – up significantly from the previous week when occupancy was expected to be below 20 percent. The final numbers for New Year’s occupancy wasn’t available Tuesday.

But some businesses along Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach say business was much better than expected last week, fueled by the spring-like temperatures in the 60s and 70s, decent gas prices and the low, offseason lodging rates.

“There were a lot of people downtown just out and about,” Sebok said. “More so than in previous years, we noticed more people downtown that week between Christmas and New Year’s.”

The LandShark Bar & Grill, experiencing its first New Year’s at the beach since opening in May, was so busy it had to call in extra workers, sous chef Lex Johnson said.

“We were killing it the entire week,” he said.

The oceanfront eatery, part of Jimmy Buffett’s enterprises, had its own New Year’s Eve party – complete with a margarita shot at midnight – that attracted 178 revelers, just shy of the 200-person goal, Johnson said. Most of those partiers – 125 of them – bought tickets in the three days leading up to the event, Johnson said, adding that the party was a success and likely will be repeated.

“Our phone was ringing off the hook inquiring about it [during the three days before the event],” Johnson said. “We’ll definitely be doing something very similar to it [this year].”

But don’t make reservations for that big Myrtle Beach street party just yet. Officials say they are still working out details, but the plan is to have one ready to ring in 2013. Organizers have to start early to line up entertainment and coordinate with lodging properties to create packages and promote the event, Sebok said. Sarver said area businesses will be brainstorming ideas, though finding the money to put on such an event always is a challenge. Representatives for the Oceanfront Merchants Association, which organizes summer entertainment downtown and shoulder season events including the St. Patrick’s Day Festival and Oktoberfest, could not be reached Tuesday.

“We really should think about doing something like that,” Utley said. “I just think people like that kind of stuff. They really do. I’m all for it.”