By MADDY VITALE
For likely the first time in Ocean City’s history, the Boardwalk merchants and the downtown shops are joining forces to offer customers one event in one location to showcase items at special prices in a one-day sale called Market Madness.
On Saturday, March 7, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., shoppers will be able to browse merchandise from more than 40 Boardwalk shops and downtown stores all at the historic Flanders Hotel.
Unique specialty items will be featured at discounts, along with a host of amusement ride operator tables, eateries and candy stores selling gift cards and other items.
The hotel, at 11th Street and the Boardwalk, will provide beverages and food a la carte. Parking is free.
“I’m really excited about it. It will be the best of Ocean City all under one roof – the biggest sale of the year,” said Wes Kazmarck, president of the Boardwalk Merchants Association.
He continued, "This is an event that will show that coming together – partnering makes things work really well. It is a good time for Boardwalk merchants to sell merchandise at great deals and it really gets our tourist base to keep the 2020 season in mind."
The shopping extravaganza will feature deals on Boardwalk business merchandise and downtown shops.
Kazmarck noted that it is not just a sale. Each year the city features fall and spring block parties in the downtown that spur economic boosts for not only downtown merchants, but also Boardwalk business owners.
With Market Madness, shops, amusement businesses and some eateries will be under one sale, a new venture that will hopefully expand each year, Kazmarck said.
"This is something that we have never been able to pull off before," he said. "Any time there is a sale, the entire town benefits from it. The Boardwalk benefits from the block parties. During the Fourth of July, we do great, especially when the weather is good. The downtown also does well.”
Kazmarck said when deciding when to put on the new one-day sale, he spoke with merchants citywide.
“It’s a perfect weekend to do a sale," he said. "Being a parent with kids in a ton of activities, the beginning of March is not as busy for sports, so that should help families who want to come to the sale.”
In addition to discounted merchandise, Kazmarck said Market Madness will really reflect what people could see when shopping both in the downtown and the Boardwalk.
“You could go there and get a nice snapshot of the business district,” he said. “Customers get good deals and we sell some merchandise. It is really a win-win.”
Kazmarck explained that he came up with the idea for a joint sale to help bolster business in a slower time of the year.
He noted that he received a lot of support when he presented the idea to Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Michele Gillian, Danielle Guerriero, president of the Downtown Merchants Association, and Caitlin Quirk, vice president of the Downtown Merchants Association.
Kazmarck, owner of Surf Mall on the Boardwalk in Ocean City and The Birdcage in Sea Isle City, said he wanted to emulate the success of Sea Isle’s “Flea by the Sea” indoor sale, but on a larger scale.
Just as sidewalk sales are successful in the spring and fall, organizers hope holding an indoor sale will draw a crowd.
“Early March is a good time of year to get Ocean City on the mind,” Kazmarck said. “Since Sea Isle was so successful, I felt like it was an event that we could do in Ocean City, but bigger, in a centralized location."
He said that the Flanders Hotel has been "extremely accommodating."
"This is a great event,” he said. “The downtown, the Chamber, the city and hospitality (industry) are working together to jump-start the season.”
This time of year, Ocean City primarily sees year-round residents and second homeowners at the shops, eateries and boutiques, he pointed out.
Caitlin Quirk, vice president of the Downtown Merchants Association, said the event will boost sales for the two districts.
“There is nothing that drives business more than having an event," she said. "I am very excited.”
She added that newly appointed Downtown Merchants Association President Danielle Guerriero did a lot of work to help make the sale possible.
“Danielle is hitting the ground running. She is getting in touch with shops and getting them interested in the sale daily,” said Quirk, owner of Bowfish Kids, a children’s shop on Asbury Avenue.
“We will have everything under one roof. The collaboration between the two districts will help us as merchants to clear our shelves and will give shoppers a good opportunity to get good deals in one centralized location,” Quirk said. “I will be working and shopping.”
