Business Buzz
July marks the true busy season at the shore, and there are so many local businesses open this summer for you to enjoy. In addition to all of your tried-and-true favorites in Avalon and Stone Harbor, some new businesses have also opened their doors for residents and visitors to enjoy. Whether you’re in need of a new summer style, a delicious meal, or a pick-me-up, make sure to check out these new additions to Seven Mile Beach.
Avalon branch manager Carol Hutt with owner Christie D’Arcy.
City Hydration Avalon
2166 Dune Drive • 215-416-0109 • cityhydration.com
Before City Hydration opened its newest location, its nurses would often travel up to two hours from their base in Philadelphia to offer IV hydration to clients at the shore. Owner and founder Christie D’Arcy knew then that she had to establish a branch in New Jersey for these clients – and so she landed on Dune Drive in Avalon.
City Hydration was born in 2017 after D’Arcy spent several years as a travel nurse in California, where IV bars are much more popular than on the east coast. Despite having no business experience, D’Arcy decided to bring an IV hydration specialty location to Philadelphia.
IV hydration offers a safe remedy for common problems like hangovers, stomach issues and dehydration without a trip to the ER to get an IV, as well as specific IV hydration for athletic performance and immune boosting. It also ensures that more of the vitamins and minerals in the IV drip actually enter the bloodstream.
“This is good for the ER, this is good for the nurses, this is good for the patients – it only made sense to bring it outside of the hospital setting,” D’Arcy says. “You get 100% absorption from these, and that’s why people feel so drastically different versus taking supplements.”
City Hydration’s Avalon location will offer full IV hydration services in store, as well as concierge services to bring IV hydration to clients in their homes or offices. D’Arcy says the nurses will have a golf cart and a few scooters to travel around the area for in-home services.
“Our nurses are so skilled and they’re also so personable,” D’Arcy says of the 20 IV specialist nurses employed at City Hydration. “Everyone just goes above and beyond, and their level of skill and knowledge about IVs and hydration really is so superior.”
Aside from IV hydration, the Avalon storefront also offers a special sweet treat to customers! City Hydration’s storefront was formerly the ice cream shop Bonnie’s Toppings, and, as a homage to Bonnie, D’Arcy saved one of the machines from the shop to provide soft serve ice cream to clients.
Summer Salt owner-operators Heather Sedlacek and Connor Dore.
Summer Salt
2800 Boardwalk, Avalon • 609-796-2096 • summersaltavalon.com
Neither Heather Sedlacek or Connor Dore, the husband-and-wife duo behind Avalon’s newest beachfront dining establishment, thought they would build a career in the restaurant industry. But two summers ago, after falling in love with farming and the kitchen, they opened the dinner pop-up Summer Salt at Isabel’s Bakery and Café.
When the pair moved to New Jersey several years ago, Dore continued a weekly tradition of a homemade dinner with some close friends, and Rhianne and Justine Lowe, the owners of Isabel’s, were guests every week. They eventually offered up the space at Isabel’s as a sort of restaurant trial run.
“One thing led to another, and then it just really took off,” Dore says. “I was surprised at how few people came over when the meal was free out of my house and how many people came over when we started charging them.”
After Summer Salt’s tables spilled off the sidewalk last summer, they now have their own space on Avalon’s boardwalk, which will be open for reservation-only dinner service on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.
The menu will vary throughout the summer, as Dore and Sedlacek plan to develop their dishes around the fresh produce and other products they get from local Cape May County farmers and fisherman. Under a special “Dinner at the Dunes” menu, Summer Salt will serve a four-course set menu meal, with a choice between land and sea for the main entrée.
“It creates a fun experience where you sit down, and we just start sending things out,” Sedlacek says. “The guests can really focus on being there together. That’s part of our mission as a restaurant is to create a space where people can be fully present in this moment, and we want the food to embody that presence.”
Summer Salt’s carry-out market will also be open six days a week for customers to purchase fresh sandwiches, salads, homemade dips and dressings, and more.
“There’s just so much joy that can happen in restaurants,” Dore says. “If you can help them have the best two hours they’ve had all week, if you can be that light for them – that’s a good thing.”
From left, Matthew Lanza, Emily Seltzer and Madeline Myslow of The Reeds with Jessica McGuinn and CC Yearout of Anthropologie.
Anthropologie at The Reeds
9601 Third Avenue, Stone Harbor • 609-961-3010 • anthropologie.com
Anthropologie is popping up this summer at the shore!
The Philadelphia-based lifestyle brand opened its first ever hotel pop-up at The Reeds at Shelter Haven in Stone Harbor for beachgoers to enjoy this summer. 7 Mile Beach is already home to many Anthropologie fans, and now they won’t have to travel home to shop for their summer styles.
“They have swimsuits, they have beach cover-ups, they have all of the beachy line,” Madeline Myslow, a member of The Reeds public relations team, says, “So to be able to offer that to Stone Harbor was a great brand alignment.”
The pop-up also includes a variety of printed dresses, accessories and beauty products that will rotate with new shipments throughout the summer. Most of the dresses are exclusive from the brand’s internal label by Anthropologie, but the shop will also carry products from NorBlack NorWhite, Cecelia Prado, Amadi, Mare Mare, Whit TWO, Supergoop! and more.
The merchandise available for purchase at the Reeds is a selection specifically chosen for the Avalon and Stone Harbor audience. It’s meant to create a “beach-to-street” look, according to Anthropologie experiential marketing manager Jessica McGuinn.
“We wanted to bring them a really special curated assortment,” McGuinn says. “It’s not what they’re going to get in their typical Anthro. We really want it to feel like it’s an edit for that summer beach customer, and what’s going to take her day to night while she’s on vacation.”
Anthropologie at The Reeds will be open daily from 12pm to 8pm until Labor Day on September 6.