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YouTubeI think this has been discussed before, but I just got an email at work that said Einsteins (in the Huntington building) is closing at 1pm today. 1pm! I know that for the marathon none of those places are open either. (places like Dunkin Donuts, etc) It seems like they could make a lot of money staying open when hundreds of thousands of extra people are going to be walking around. I don't really understand it.
Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion
Downtown restaurants closing during major downtown events
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lifeliberty
Here
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I went to Broad St Bagel for breakfast (they have the best bagel sandwiches). I asked them how late they were staying open due to RWB business, they said 230pm. they wanted to be out before the parade starts at 3.
Posted 1 year ago # -
lifeliberty
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Potbelly usually stays open, so does subway.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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I've talked to quite a few folks about this, and it sounds like the ones who have stayed open in the past have had little of that festival/event traffic converted to into business sales.
Essentially, festival goers come down, go to the event on the Riverfront, eat food from festival vendors, and then leave immediately afterward.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Tigertree
771 N. High St.
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The problem, just like the Short North during Comfest, Pride, RWB, Doo Dah, High Ball, marathons, the softball tournament etc. (and as a side note as much as I and most other business owners make the same claim, no one seems to believe us, but I'll make it again...) is that the Short North and Downtown barely have the infrastructure, parking specifically, to handle normal day to day businesses. Event disruptions cause regulars, whose patronage are responsible for retail and restaurant businesses success, stay away. This is compounded by people coming down with a specific idea of what they are doing (fireworks, music...) and not wanting to walk around with bags.
There are rare exceptions like bars with patios or stores whose wares translate to the event at hand that can do a booth (fee on top of the overhead they are already paying) that people cling onto as examples of success, but the majority of us have tried it over and over again with little success. So especially in the case of a restaurant with a huge payroll, it's just not worth the risk.Posted 1 year ago # -
lizless
Columbus/Hocking Hills
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Tip Top always experiences a sharp decline in biz on RWB coupled with a lot more headaches. Dirty Frank's is coming to realize the same. We do remain open and happy to serve despite the headaches. Not much incentive exists for many businesses to stay open though.
Posted 1 year ago # -
CheeseFoodie
Harrison West
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@Tigertree and Liz - I can see your points, as a resident, I tend to avoid my own 'hood during big events like gallery hop and RW&B.
Posted 1 year ago # -
lizless
Columbus/Hocking Hills
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honavery wrote >>
Interesting. I guess I assumed even if a small percentage of the extra people decided to eat at that place they could do a lot more business. I guess my assumption was incorrect.Dirty Frank's is having a veeerrrrry slow lunch right now. No extra people anywhere that we can see.
Posted 1 year ago # -
tourist19
Merion Village
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lizless wrote >>
honavery wrote >>
Interesting. I guess I assumed even if a small percentage of the extra people decided to eat at that place they could do a lot more business. I guess my assumption was incorrect.Dirty Frank's is having a veeerrrrry slow lunch right now. No extra people anywhere that we can see.
If I wasn't a walking bio-hazard right now I would wander over. I doubt the staff and patrons would appreciate me infecting them with my lovely summer flu. Stupid passengers on the plane getting me sick. I expect it in the fall/winter, not in July!
Sorry that this weekend looks like it's going to suck for you all :-(
Posted 1 year ago # -
honavery
Arizona
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lizless wrote >>
honavery wrote >>
Interesting. I guess I assumed even if a small percentage of the extra people decided to eat at that place they could do a lot more business. I guess my assumption was incorrect.Dirty Frank's is having a veeerrrrry slow lunch right now. No extra people anywhere that we can see.
This is a strange phenomenon to me. You guys will do more business when a big convention is in town, right? It's just the one off mass of people that seem to actually discourage business.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Columbusite
Minneapolis
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It's just funny that instead of hanging out at a restaurant or bar after the fireworks everyone insists on beating the traffic, which never works and they all end up melting down for going a steady 1/8 mph. This year I might just avoid it altogether.
Posted 1 year ago # -
mt448
New Albany
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I agree with Columbusite. We pretty much hang at bars all day (although we do hit the parade and Taste pf Boom) before we walk up right underneath the show. Then, we hang at the bars for awhile and watch the 450,000 people scramble to the roads. Last year, we hung at the Rossi for a long while. It is definitely the way to go for my friends and I.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Tigertree wrote >>
...the Short North and Downtown barely have the infrastructure, parking specifically, to handle normal day to day businesses. Event disruptions cause regulars, whose patronage are responsible for retail and restaurant businesses success, stay away. This is compounded by people coming down with a specific idea of what they are doing (fireworks, music...) and not wanting to walk around with bags.I don't think this is a problem unique to Columbus at all though. Talk to anyone who lives in any city with any large festival (pretty much everywhere, right?) and I'm sure they have the same issue. I'm sure most regular businesses in Times Square hate NYE, and I have some friends in New Orleans who say that Mardi Gras is the perfect time to get the hell out of town. None of them want to even try to set foot in their favorite stores or bars or restaurants during the times when everything is swarmed with visitor/festival/tourist traffic.
Not saying that more shouldn't be done to address this, or that businesses should just grin and bear it... but I think it's more of a common urban issue than something to specifically blame our current local administration as the root cause of this problem.
Posted 1 year ago # -
gramarye
In Exile
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Hmmm. I wonder if it would be possible to bring people in from the festivities with the right advertising pitch. Something like what mt448 just touched on--why try to beat the traffic when you can kick back, grab a hot dog and a beer or cocktail, chill, and let it clear out for a while?
I know a lot of the people will just want to get back to Cincinnati or Cleveland or Dayton or wherever, but my intuition was the same as honavery's: even a small percentage of an enormous crowd should be enough to bring a lot of feet in the door. Someone in those teeming hordes of RWB'ers ought to want something a little better than festival garbage food, after all.
Posted 1 year ago #
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