It has been three months since Boca Raton began providing beachgoers surfside amenities, making the city's public beaches among the last in the tri-county area to start offering them. <\/p>\n
So how much money has resulted so far from renting beach chairs and umbrellas? City records show $52,726 has changed hands in the first three months. Councilman Scott Singer said he was pleased with the progress. <\/p>\n
\"So far, the feedback has been mostly and strongly positive,\" Singer said. <\/p>\n
For the first year, Oceanside Beach Service, the city's chosen concessionaire, will pay Boca Raton at least $54,000 to sell products on the beach, plus 15 percent of any amount over $350,000 in sales. <\/p>\n
The rentals program began after City Council members grew concerned that beachgoers were bypassing Boca for beaches where families would not have to haul all the items needed for the day. <\/p>\n
The first month that Oceanside Beach Service started offering beach chair and umbrella rentals in October on Boca's beaches, the rentals generated $31,561.04 in sales. The sales then dropped to $10,714.90 for November and then $10,450.66 in December. <\/p>\n
Singer said he wasn't concerned about the falloff in sales that has occurred in the second and third months of the beach business. The first month likely spiked because a number of beachgoers bought into yearlong membership to use the beach furniture, he said. <\/p>\n
Still, the limited number of products available far fewer than the concessionaire's contract with the city calls for has city officials concerned enough to ask for a specific time frame for when items such as drinks, snacks and boogie boards might be available. <\/p>\n
Mike Woika, Boca's assistant city manager, said that city officials hope to meet with Oceanside sometime this coming week to firm up plans for more items to be offered for sale. At first, Oceanside said it would start selling more items two weeks after the opening Oct. 1. <\/p>\n
\"Everyone knew there was going to be a transition period from when they first started,\" Woika said. \"We're looking for that transition to start taking place.\" <\/p>\n
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Reaction to Boca beach amenities 'mostly and strongly positive' so far<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It has been three months since Boca Raton began providing beachgoers surfside amenities, making the city's public beaches among the last in the tri-county area to start offering them. So how much money has resulted so far from renting beach chairs and umbrellas Continue reading