Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 10, 1991 TAG: 9103100170
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MONICA DAVEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Crowds of fans filed along Market Square on Saturday afternoon, killing a few hours before the big game and peering into stores.
The thing is, they seemed to do a lot of peering - but not all that much purchasing, some storeowners said. Some who had hoped for a rush in sales with the tournament's arrival were left wondering Saturday night why that rush never really happened.
"I'm sure the Metro Tournament being here has been good, but I didn't get what I thought I would," Jim Davis, manager of Orvis, said Saturday.
Sales were adequate, but nothing spectacular. After hearing gossip about retail sales at last year's tournament in Biloxi, Miss., Davis had high hopes. "I had visions of $5,000 to $10,000 sales days like at Christmastime," he said. "At least here, I didn't see it."
A little further down Campbell Avenue, David Johnson wasn't selling much more coffee than usual, either.
"We haven't seen much increase, if any," said the co-owner of Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea. "I kind of blame it on their tent up at the Civic Center."
As long as fans could buy beer, soft drinks and Domino's pizza in giant "Party Tent" right at the Civic Center, they had no real incentive to head downtown, he reasoned.
Next door, the owner of Phoenix The Earth Store admitted to feeling "a little disappointed." Gayle Carr Fox, who had kept the store open late Thursday night, just in case, said sales were fine Saturday, but nothing out of the ordinary.
What do those Metro fans buy, when they do buy?
T-shirts, mostly, Fox said. Some "big-ticket" items, too, she said.
They weren't filling their suitcases with soaps and fragrances. "It was an average Saturday, probably a little better," said Vickie Terry, the owner of Blue Ribbon Boutique.
And they weren't stocking up on caloric treats at Good Things on the Market, either. "It was good," said owner Rita Williams, who opened the candy shop early for expected shoppers. "We had lots of people to walk in and walk around and look."
"And then they left," Williams added.
At Books Strings & Things, though, Chris Henson said sales had picked up some by Saturday, compared with two so-so days before that.
Henson has a theory on that: By weekend, there was a pile of fans from the losing teams trapped in Roanoke, fed up with basketball and bummed out. The obvious solution?
Shop, Henson said.
Their purchases of choice, Henson said: Civil War stuff, hardcover books, classic rock music, regional cookbooks and, uh, maps of Roanoke.
Overall, the tournament didn't affect sales all that much for the store, Henson said. He's got a theory on that, too:
"The tournament was more of a social thing, I think, than a shopping thing," Henson said. "I have had a feeling the popular thing has been nightspots."
It's true, downtown restaurant owners said.
Metro fans may not have bought stuff, but they sure bought food and drinks. Maybe not in that order.
Tastings Cafe did so well that it had to close down for half an hour Friday afternoon to "regroup," owner Terry Alger said. "We probably doubled our business."
Roanoke Weiner Stand sold 2,000 dogs Saturday. And at Burger in the Square, the lunchtime line Saturday wound its way out the door.
by CNB