A convention bounce or bust?
Posted: Thursday, August 28, 2008 1:07 PM by Eve Tahmincioglu
Filed Under:
Customer service, Marketing, Back office
The $100 bottles of Bollinger champagne are selling well this week at Corridor 44, a champagne bar in downtown Denver, the city hosting this year's Democratic National Convention. But general manager Brian Siffermann says he hasn’t sold any bottles of Dom Perignon. Bottles of the Dom go for $325.
“It seems the Democrats don't have the expense accounts that Republicans have,” jokes Siffermann.
He isn't complaining though. Business at the bar is up about one third since the convention started last Monday.
The story's more glum for Gail Lindley, owner of Denver Bookbinding Co.
She expects to see a 10 percent drop in sales this week because she's had to cut back on hours due to road closures in Denver. And on Thursday she shut down operations altogether because almost every road in the area was closed due to security measures for Barack Obama's speech at the city’s Mile High Stadium.
It's generally believed that political conventions bring a windfall for local businesses, but the reality is many of them don't see a dime.
Restaurants and bars in the immediate vicinity of the conference center tend to rake in most of the convention dough, but most local small businesses don't see any spikes in trade, and many of them actually lose money, notes Nancy Ploeger, president of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce in New York City, which hosted the Republican National Convention in 2004.
Here's a rundown of what Ploeger heard from her members during the GOP's 2004 convention:
--The smaller retail businesses located near the venue, Madison Square Garden, struggled as a result of so many street closures.
--On the other hand, sales at small convenience stores increased as vendors sold larger numbers of pick-up items like candy and drinks.
--Many offices located in the "hot zone" were forced to close because it was too difficult for employees to get into the area due to increased security and limited transportation.
--A few of the restaurants located in and around the hotels where delegates stayed made out well.
--Stores on Broadway, New York's storied thoroughfare, picked up some business.
--Statistics showed an increase in overall business and activity, but for the most part the city's small businesses did not pick up extra customers and in some cases they actually lost money.
In Denver, there are opportunities for businesses that do work in the Pepsi Center, the convention's main venue.
Empowercom, a Denver-based telecommunications firm, oversaw cable wire installation at the center.
Steve Jackson, a partner at the company, says Empowercom saw a 30 percent increase in revenue, but the big payoff will come from the relationships he's been able to build. Handling work during the Democratic convention also looks good on the company's resume, he said.
"We hope it leads to more business," he added.
Pam Pressel, the CEO of Capabilities, a firm that sells and rents mobility products such as wheelchairs, was hoping to have a location right on the convention floor or right outside the Pepsi Center to rent delegates scooters, but the DNC put the kibosh on that.
So they ended up with a mobile van a few blocks away. Business was slow early in the week, but Pressel says things picked up on Wednesday. While she won't hit her target of a 20 percent increase in sales this week, she expects to get close to 15 percent.
Pressel says visitors to the city often have trouble breathing because of the high altitude and "they discover they can't walk as far."
Hopefully, they'll be able to walk (or scoot) far enough to drop cash at some of Denver's small businesses.
