Holiday weekend marks the end of summer season

The line stretched out the door at Britts Donuts in Carolina Beach. Owners say they’ve had the best tourist season in years.

Other businesses on the boardwalk, like Blackhorn Restaurant, say the season was mediocre.

“We did see about a 20% increase in food sales, about a 10% decrease overall in total sales,” said Jeff Cousler.

For other businesses, the summer was a bummer.

Joey Solomon helps run the carnival rides at Carolina Beach. He figures Hurricane Earl destroyed about 20 percent of business during Labor Day weekend. “We had issues with the hurricane, which towards the Labor Day is kind of a difficult thing for an outdoor business like us.”

Solomon says a rocky Labor Day won’t keep him from coming back next season.