DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. —  Thousands of bikers started riding into Daytona Beach for Biketoberfest on Thursday, and business owners have spent days preparing.

Danny Yanesh has been busier than ever at Biker Brothers T-shirts on Main Street, stocking up for one of his busiest weekends of the year.   

“Biketoberfest and Bike Week are basically where we make our money for the whole year,” said Yanesh, who has worked in Daytona Beach for 20 years. “It’s kind of like Christmas for a jewelry store.”

He has prepared nearly 50,000 T-shirts because he’s expecting big crowds.

“There is so many people contacting me, asking, ‘Where are you? How do we get our T-shirts?’ ” Yanesh explained.

After permits were not issued for the event last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Biketoberfest is scheduled to go on as usual with the city’s approval through Sunday, large crowds and all.

Yanesh said he feels comfortable because he is vaccinated, the visitors’ bureau encouraged people to visit safely and because he is eager for his business to get a boost.

“We need a good shot in the arm one more time, which is a pun, but this is one thing that will make our whole year,” Yanesh said. “We had a really great Bike Week, but this is just going to take us where we are finally recovering from everything COVID right now. We’ll be recovering from that.”

Packing up his new merchandise, Yanesh is excited to have enough demand to open up two sister stores on the same block. He plans to bring on 10 employees to handle the rush and, hopefully, reach his pre-pandemic goals.

“We are looking forward to get some new equipment that we’ve been wanting for a year,” he said.

While Yanesh shared that the pandemic has put a strain on supplies, the rush to stock up will all be worth it when old friends and new ride into town.

“It should be fun,” Yanesh said.