Local businesses were ready for UCI this weekend, but where were the crowds?
With hundreds of thousands of promised visitors, many local businesses stocked up only to be left hanging.
Local businesses were ready for UCI this weekend, but where were the crowds?
With hundreds of thousands of promised visitors, many local businesses stocked up only to be left hanging.
It started with a facebook post from a local food cart worker who said they had spent about $1K on fees, product and wages only to see little in return.
“I think we’ve sold $20 worth of food so far,” she said by around noon Sunday, after arriving at 5 AM to pass a city inspector review. “Oh Richmond, why can’t you get anything right?”
RVA mag put the call out on facebook to see if other businesses were facing similar issues and concerns started pouring in.
Lisa Edwards, Co-owner of Millie’s Diner downtown, compared last week to a natural disaster, saying she had prepped for crowds but saw minimal business.
“Everyone has ordered a ton of inventory (food, beer, wine, etc) because many purveyors are simply refusing to deliver next week,” she said about how her local establishment had to invest even more in anticipation of race fans.
But Edwards hasn’t lost all hope – she opened the diner today (Monday) in an effort “join the push to make this a good event for the city and be open for business.”
The Village Cafe near VCU campus saw similar empty tables.
“We were fully staffed and ended up cutting shifts because we’ve been so slow,” read a message from their official facebook page, “Our restaurant maybe filled up once, but we’re trying to get people out and let them know traffic isn’t a big issue!”
A trip to Carytown Sunday mid-morning was also oddly slow for a beautiful late-summer morning. With the patio wide-open for brunch at New York Deli, our server said they had over prepared on Saturday only to see one of the slowest weekends in years.
Restaurants weren’t the only businesses effected. Alturquan Pair, a local Uber Driver, said volume was “definitely down compared to last weekend,” with fellow Uber Driver Jay Rupkey agreeing, calling his weekend “Very slow…. Half of normal rides.”
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Lisa Price-Ratliff, owner of Zosaros Bakery on Lakeside Ave, said she saw steady traffic form 8AM to 4PM.
“We were one block from the start line and the energy was awesome,” she wrote in a facebook post. “I heard lots of rumors that the media was telling people to avoid lakeside and the city due to the race. A real pity because it was a lot of fun to see a bike race in person.”
Theories ran wild as to what could have caused such a downturn for downtown – blasting concerns over road closures and traffic scaring folks away, sending VCU students home in the middle of the school year, and general over-hype from the City and UCI promoters are all subject to finger pointing.
But there’s still time to get out there and support RVA during the race. Local man Doug Dobey generated an image (top image) reminding folks about the importance of supporting local businesses right now.
“Go out and support your friends and neighbors who run local businesses,” Dobey wrote in a facebook post accompanying the image. “The roads are navigable, and you can walk the extra block if you can’t park right out front. It’ll do you good, and it’ll do them good.”
