Some Jersey Shore-goers are paying others to carry their stuff to the beach, buy their groceries, even cook them lobster dinners

Teresa Ranieri had never planned a vacation to Cape May when she first enlisted the services of Rebecca Walder, also known as “The Beach Concierge.”

In 2019, Walder recommended places to stay and the best times to go. In the years since, she has helped Ranieri, who lives in Westchester County, N.Y., with restaurant reservations, grocery shopping, finding dog-friendly spots, even getting together a beach-themed gift for a travel companion of Ranieri and her husband.

Ranieri wouldn’t say how much she paid, but Walder said she charges about $100 an hour for most services. For Ranieri, the cost is well worth it.

“It’s really just peace of mind,” said Ranieri, a 54-year-old educator, adding with a laugh: “I promise, I’m not high maintenance.”

As Jersey Shore vacations have become increasingly expensive, businesses have popped up to cater to beachgoers who are more than willing to pay for added conveniences. From Long Beach Island to Cape May, people can now outsource tasks that have long been hallmarks — albeit sometimes dreaded ones — of trips down the Shore.

Services exist that will:

» READ MORE: Down the Shore, it feels like everybody has a street-legal golf cart. Here’s how much they’re paying for them.

Many of these services were started — or have grown exponentially — since the pandemic, and prices vary.

For what business owners call “schlepping” — the process of taking chairs, umbrellas, and other supplies to and from the beach — customers pay a daily rate of $40 to $200, depending on the number of items and whether they have their own or are renting them. Weekly rates come at a discount.

Even something as traditional as babysitting has gotten an upgrade: Christine Meehan’s babysitting service, Sitters at the Shore, started offering senior- and pet-sitting some seven years ago. She’s recently seen requests for babysitting multiple children, sometimes so many that more than one sitter is required. Meehan vets the sitters and charges an “agency fee” of $25 to $30, with varying hourly rates starting at $25 per sitter.

Some of her customers are “renting very large homes, and they’re vacationing with friends, family members, cousins, and there could be 11 to 15 children in a home,” she said.

For pre-arrival tasks, such as making beds (unlike many Airbnbs, many Shore rentals don’t come with linens) or stocking the fridge, Walder, owner of The Beach Concierge in Cape May, said her clients usually pay $200 to $250, about $100 per hour of her time.

And then there are more upscale services, such as planning private-chef dinners for bachelorette parties or coordinating elaborate surprise engagements. This summer, Walder planned a lobster boil for eight people that cost the clients $1,500.

“The premiere services have grown exponentially,” said Walder, who started the business in 2019. “The clientele that has been coming to Cape May, their expectations have changed along with the market.”

Whether clients shell out $100 or upward of $1,000, they are getting in return a less stressful Shore trip, said several amenity-business owners.

During the pandemic, Catherine Weiss, a retired lawyer who lives in New York City, started using a service that drops off clean quilts, mattress covers, and pillows at her family’s rental home in Avalon. She’s since continued to use the service, which costs about $500 for two weeks.

“When we take our car — which is a compact — with four people, packed with stuff for the Shore for a couple weeks, there’s no room to bring anything extra,” she said. “I like the fact that the stuff has just been laundered when you get it.”

In recounting childhood memories of Cape May vacations, and her inspiration for starting The Beach Concierge, Walder echoed an age-old gripe about Shore vacations: They often come with more chores than other vacations.

“It’s nice to facilitate for other people to come and arrive relaxed, knowing they can just have a vacation,” Walder said.

Walder has about 10 to 20 customers a week during the summer, and most of her business is made up of the higher-end services.

For groups, “why not have a lobster boil? Why not have cocktails for your bachelorette party and enjoy your backyard and your pool that you’re spending all this money to enjoy?” Walder said. “And then you can live your best life.”

Other luxury businesses will cater pop-up picnics on the beach.

Justine Denea Lorenz, the owner behind Picnics & Prosecco, said she’s seen her bespoke picnic business grow in the last few years, with about 30 events since April.

Convenience is key to her customers.

“They just show up. They enjoy the picnic. They get to relax. They leave. They get to have some good memories and laughs with their family and friends, and then they don’t have to clean anything,” she said.

The standard picnic, which lasts two hours, is $350, but customers on average spend $1,000. A picnic package includes a table, pillows, and blankets, and customers can add extras on such items as a charcuterie board, desserts, a bar cart, umbrellas, or a cabana. This summer, events have ranged from two to 20 people.

“People are becoming more demanding, which is great for us, ‘cause I’m always looking to come up with more creative ideas and things to make it unique,” she said. “They’re coming up with these crazy color schemes and themes, and we’re adding like disco balls, and we’re making it fun.”

Demand this summer also has been strong for relatively low-cost services, such as chair and cabana rentals.

When Dana and Jeff Turner were starting their concierge and butler service Shore to Please two years ago, the Freehold couple thought their most popular offering would be the $170 “around the fire” package, which comes with a Solo Stove and a “s’mores charcuterie board for 12.”

“We thought that would really take off,” Jeff Turner said.

Instead, the most popular service has been the beach chair and cabana rentals. The daily rental packages start at $75 for two Tommy Bahama chairs and a cabana, plus $70 for setup and takedown.

“A lot of our business is day trippers,” said Dana Turner.

Business has been rapidly growing, too, at Perfect Beach Day NJ, said owner Palmer Zarzycki. The six-person staff, made up entirely of college students, now serves about 400 clients a summer, setting up beach chairs and umbrella rentals, as well as carting customers’ belongings to the beach.

The busiest location is family-friendly Ocean City, he said, but they also have locations in Margate, Longport, Ventnor, Long Beach Island, and Avalon and Stone Harbor. Base packages start at $60, with setup and takedown included. They recently starting offering party packages.

Parents are especially grateful, he said: “They’re like ‘This is great. I don’t have to carry all my kids and the equipment up to the beach.’”

Angie Dowd, a 49-year-old teacher from the Reading area, has used Zarzycki’s service twice this summer on day trips. She said it was worth every penny of the $60 per trip not to have to lug multiple umbrellas, chairs, and other essentials onto the beach, and then bring the sandy items back in her car.

“I am a day tripper,” she said. “I don’t want to be dragging all that stuff from the beach.”