SAN FRANCISCO – The weeklong heat wave has been great for businesses in coastal cities like Half Moon Bay, Sausalito and San Francisco.
The scorching heat forced many inland neighbors along the Pacific coast to cool down.
“We see a lot of guests from Sacramento, the East Bay and even the Central Valley coming to stay overnight just to get away from the heat because it’s so unbearable,” said Bob Partrite, CEO of Fog Harbor Fish House on Pier. 39 in San Francisco.
Partrite said the length of the heat wave gave them time to bring in more food, alcohol and chefs and servers to accommodate the crowds. He said the heat since Monday has been good for business.
“We have five restaurants here, so we’ve seen a 15 to 20 percent increase depending on the day,” Partrite said.
Many retailers said sales are also increasing for them because there are many domestic shoppers.
Dylan Defreitas owns three stores at Pier 39.
‘We’ll probably see about 20 to 30 percent more [customers]. It’s a big leap for us,” Defreitas said.
Defreitas stocked its stores with additional merchandise and added two to three additional employees this weekend.
“Getting the stores as full of products as possible. We have extra people here today. We’ll probably be here late, we’ll stay late,” Defreitas said.
Not only the shops, but also the local beaches were full of people.
“We decided to have a fun beach day. We’ll have a picnic with some food and just enjoy the nice heat,” said beachgoer Gemma Estevez, who was visiting from Southern California. Estevez and a group of friends enjoyed the sun at Crissy Field Beach.
Nearby Baker Beach and Ocean Beach also had many visitors.
“It’s absolutely beautiful with the view of the Golden Gate Bridge that never gets old. I might even get in the water today,” said beachgoer Chloe Neilson.
Some families also fired up the grills at local beaches.
“Our house is way too hot right now. San Francisco doesn’t have air conditioning because it usually doesn’t need it. So this is very unusual. It’s better to go outside and enjoy it than to melt at home,” Emilie said Boras, San Francisco resident and beachgoer.
Although this heat wave was rare in San Francisco, Partrite said he and nearby business owners needed it. They flourished under the sun.
“Any time we can get this number of people in on Monday through Thursday or Monday through Friday outside of our summer months is a big bonus,” Partrite said.
With Fleet Week still a few days away, retailers thought any leftover goods they had extra ordered for this weekend would likely be sold by next weekend. They also plan to deploy staff for the air show.
