Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer and businesses on South Padre Island are hoping for a big economic boost this weekend.

Expectations for the Labor Day weekend are high on the island. Right now, shop owners are experiencing a summer slowdown.

The Baked Bear opened up a couple of months ago on Swordfish Street and serves custom ice cream sandwiches.

The shop's general manager, Natalie Flores says since opening in May they worked two major holidays.

She says after the 4th of July holiday their lines were out the door.

Flores says they've had to put up a sign asking people to wait outside, but like many other businesses on the island it's slowed down.

"Now during the week, it is a lot slower as to in the full summer it didn't matter if it was Tuesday or Wednesday, if it was Noon, if it was, you know, nighttime, we were slammed. People were walking in; it was just a constant flow," Flores said.

Flores says her team needs 10 people to be fully staffed, but now that things are slowing down the team has gotten smaller, and they only get a rush of customers in the evenings.

She and her team are excited about this weekend because they know how busy the holiday gets.

The Baked Bear will be extending their hours during Labor Day weekend and will have extra staff on hand to help out with the rush.