Local businesses say rally’s low biker turnout and fewer vendors hurt revenue

The fall bike rally is officially over and even with clear skies and warm temperatures not enough bikers came to the Grand Strand.

This year, the crowds were noticeably smaller and now, some business owners and vendors say the new ordinances enacted by Myrtle Beach drove away their business.

Brian Nel of Daytona Beach, FL said he couldn’t believe the emptiness he saw during this year’s rally.

He said that as a vendor he was disappointed not being able to make money the way he said he used to every time he came to the Grand Strand.

“I’ve been coming here for the last nine years and the sad part is that in a rally that’s old some 60 70 years, when you damage it is that going to be that easy to repair? It’s not just the locasl that are getting hurt by this” said Nel.

The damage Nel said was the lack of bikers and vendors this year, adding that the low attendance was a result of the city’s strict biker regulations and Horry County’s increased vendor permit fees.
 
Todd Price of Suck Bang & Blow said that a small portion of his lost business over the rally event was due to economical reasons while a bigger reason he said was the city’s strict biker ordinances.

“It’s one thing if the city had a plan,” said Price,  “if the city made the conscious decision that they didn’t want this tourism business anymore and before they acted on it and had a plan in place to replace it with another segment of tourism or maybe some industry here but to just do this without having a plan and say we’ll fix it later they are affecting hundreds thousands of people’s lives, people can’t repair their cars can’t fee their children and cant pay their rent.“

Karen Mitchell owner of Sea Palms Motel and Chesterfield Inn, said she also feels the negative impact the low turn out had on her business. She said for many years during the rally all of her rooms were always a 100% booked.

“I was down by 95%,” said Mitchell, “the problem here is that we have taken this hit but what’s the next hit that the city council’s is going to throw at us? It will hurt us smaller businesses even more, and I don’t think that we’ll ever get the bike business back.“

“There’re also people on city council that if they are replaced I think we ill begin to see change soon if we are left to face the same political machine then I think we anywhere from 3 to 5 years before we can a recovery,” said Price.

As far the city is concerned, officials there said the ordinances will stay just the way they are.