After refurbishing the restaurant’s docks this winter and spring, the owners of Dockside are employing a business model they said should cater better to groups of boaters out for a day on the water.
Despite high demand on Wrightsville Beach for long-term slip leases, the Dockside owners will rely on a “dock and dine” business model, leaving the slips open for boaters coming by on the Intracoastal Waterway.
“I get about eight to ten phone calls a week looking for openings,” said Tripp Brice, Bridge Tender Marina Dockmaster. “There is definitely a shortage of long-term slips available on Wrightsville Beach.”
After three years of planning and construction through the fall, however, Dockside opened their new “Dock and Dine” styled docks finished the last week of May, giving customers the opportunity to dock their boats free of charge to enjoy a meal alongside the Intracoastal Waterway.
“Rather than renting out the docks as we have in previous years, we wanted to be able to give customers a place to tie up their boats. Essentially we wanted to be able to flip space,” said Dockside co-owner Lionel Yow.
By taking this approach, Dockside’s owners are looking to create a continuing flow of customers, which over time they believe will provide a better business opportunity.
“We noticed a few times up by Figure Eight how much people enjoyed docking their boats at restaurants with their families. We wanted to buy Dockside to interact with families and to be a part of what we found so neat,” added Connie Yow.
The reconstruction not only provides customers with easier access to and from the restaurant’s decks and docks, but ultimately was a reinvestment for the owners of 12 years. Prior to the project, the slips at Dockside had last been repaired in the 1990s after they were damaged during Hurricane Fran in September 1996, said Connie Yow.
“The reinvestment in the rebuilding of our docks will help make sure it is here for another 40 to 50 years,” said the Yows.
But just like any major reconstruction project, the Yows dealt with several circumstances throughout their experience, most stemming from poor weather conditions during the offseason.
“A lot of things factored into our decision to rebuild the docks, but what kept us on a timeline was mostly the necessity to have it completed during the offseason,” Connie Yow said.
But despite a few bumps in the road from adverse weather and difficulty building around the tides, Dockside was successfully able to complete the project during the offseason—Just in time for the onset of warm weather and live music on their newly renovated decks every Wednesday night.
Writer Elly Colwell contributed to this report.
