THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 12, 1996 TAG: 9607120591
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LORRAINE EATON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KILL DEVIL HILLS LENGTH: 71 lines
Hurricanes never used to be like this for George Price.
Hurricanes Charlie, Bob, Emily, Gordon, Gloria and Felix - and other storms - provided Price with a bit of excitement, some good surf and maybe a couple of bonus days off during the busy season.
But now, as owner of the new Flying Fish Cafe in Kill Devil Hills, Hurricane Bertha brought the 39-year-old restaurateur a financial headache that could linger for months.
That's because along with campers, clothing, beach toys and boats, tourists pack their wallets when they leave town. The $4 million that visitors to Ocracoke and Dare and Currituck counties spend each day on gas, lodging, food and retail goods is gone with the wind.
Bertha will cost Outer Banks businesses big bucks whether she barges in or not.
Year-round resort businesses perform a delicate balancing act, relying on the busy summer months to bankroll them through the slow winter season. When they lose income in the lucrative summer months, the missing money cannot be made up later.
``It's a juggling act, that's for sure,'' Price said.
And fledgling businesses like the Flying Fish and dozens of other new ventures are particularly vulnerable because there's no protective nest egg.
Price and his partner, John Xenakis, 31, opened the Flying Fish eight weeks ago. Starting the charming 92-seat eatery specializing in American and Mediterranean cuisine was a longtime goal for the natives of Portsmouth, Va., who have worked in Outer Banks restaurants for decades. Business has been great so far.
But Thursday at noon, the usual full-house lunch crowd had dwindled to three tables of two. By the time Bertha is but a memory, the owners say they could face losses of $55,000 in business and $10,000 in profits.
That's not all.
``All this comes at the worst possible time,'' Xenakis said.
On the 15th of July, the government comes a calling on all area businesses. Federal taxes, state witholding taxes, tourist taxes and sales taxes are due. Payroll taxes must be paid the 31st and the bank wants the $4,000 mortgage three days later.
All told, that's more than $15,000 going out in the next two weeks and very little coming in. The pair has loss-of-income insurance, but that only kicks in if the building is damaged so badly that they cannot open for business.
If they can't make payroll, the owners plan to cut their own salaries. That will put in motion another set of personal setbacks. Both spent most of their savings and ran up credit cards opening the restaurant, but they estimate that they could survive for about two months without pay.
Price and Xenakis were also planning on opening a second restaurant in the next year or so, but that's getting further from reach.
``This is affecting our long-term plans as well as our short-term plans,'' Price said.
As bad as it hurts, Bertha's slap wasn't a complete surprise.
``If you are going to do business on the Outer Banks, you have to build this into your game plan,'' said Price, vice president of the Outer Banks Restaurant Association. ``I just didn't think it would happen so soon. It's early July, we could still have one or two more storms.''
Even then, he's not going to give up.
``I'm a longtime beach restaurateur,'' Price said, ``and I don't plan on going anywhere else.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
George Price, left and John Xenakis, owners of the Flying Fish Cafe
in Kill Devil Hills, know that tourist money lost because of
Bertha's threat can't be recovered.
KEYWORDS: HURRICANE BERTHA BUSINESS NORTH
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