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Inside the coolers, pounds of fresh brown shrimp and lumps of crabmeat sit buried under mounds of ice cubes, staying cool in the open-air market along William Hilton Parkway. On the outside, owner Bill Berkes will open the lid and scoop up handfuls of seafood while a guitar player keeps the large crowds entertained on the busiest days.
It's been one of his best summers in 28 years.
If you need to know why, ask Jeff and Sue Lohmiller, tourists buying three pounds of extra large shrimp recently. Back in their Shipyard condominium, they've got four kids, ranging in age from 10 to 20. And they're hungry. But a trip to a restaurant is a tough sell in a year when just the gas for the trip to Hilton Head Island from their home in upstate New York set them back a few hundred dollars.
"We try to just buy things (to eat) in," Sue Lohmiller said. "We have four kids. It's a little on the pricey side."
For Berkes and other businesses that cater to the dine-at-home, budget-conscious traveler, this summer has provided a huge boost to business, even as restaurants, bars and other higher-ticket businesses have seen customers shy away.
Visitor and occupancy rates overall have been steady -- even up over last year in some cases -- despite the economic slowdown. As the season headed into its last big hurrah last weekend, the summer of 2008 will be known as the year tourists were willing to spend their money to get to Hilton Head, but not for many other luxuries.
"The food venues that did very, very well this summer were pizza delivery, family-style restaurants, grocery stores," said Ann-Marie Adams-Arrington, executive director of the Hilton Head Area Hospitality Association.
Berkes watched that mind-set materialize all summer, when his lines grew 60-deep some days. He credits his low prices -- lower than the supermarkets because he has less overhead -- and far below the cost of a typical restaurant, he said.
"They stay at home, and then they can relax," he said.
Bob Prust has seen the same habits. One day on the way home from his business, the Wine and Spirit Shop in the Plaza at Shelter Cove, he had to wait 45 minutes at Barnacle Bill's to buy local cobia.
He experienced a similar trend at his store this summer. The store had its best July ever in 2007, but this July -- and maybe even August -- shattered that record.
The customers might have gone out for a glass of wine in fatter years. This summer, they bought liquor and made drinks in the hotel room instead, Prust said.
"The gas didn't keep them away," he said. "It just curtails what all they're going out and doing."
The popularity of Firefly, the sweet-tea-flavored vodka introduced this spring, hasn't exactly hurt business either, he added.
Adams-Arrington said restaurants that were able to attract customers this year had to make it worth their while: Some created new, lower-cost menus. The number of wine dinners increased at other establishments; and early bird specials -- usually a creature of late fall -- migrated back to the island much earlier than usual.
"When the consumer thought that the gas was just going to be so ridiculously expensive, they shifted their spending," she said. "They won't spend their money eating out in fine dining, but they will still spend their money dining at a low-cost experience."
The Westin Hilton Head Island Resort and Spa was one of the businesses that tried to counteract the frugal tourist syndrome. The management created family package deals, let kids eat for free and provided other perks to guests. They've also been trying to avoid passing the 13 percent spike in food costs they saw earlier this year on to customers, said Ken Nason, director of sales and marketing.
"We're making adjustments in strategy," he said. "Everyone's being more conscious to account for" the economy.
Though the economic slowdown was felt nationwide, business owners say this summer proved yearly vacations hold a special importance for most families, even if that vacation means sacrificing a few indulgences.
But what's going to happen after the tide of tourists dies down this weekend?
"It's going to be interesting for the restaurants this winter," Nason said.
