Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 6, 1993                   TAG: 9308060222
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Long

WHERE WERE THE CUSTOMERS?

Some miffed restaurant and retail store managers said they have seen little business from the convention goers. Some actually saw sales drop because regular customers, fearing convention traffic, stayed home.

"It's been a big letdown," said Linda Keciorius, co-owner of PK's restaurant. "Last Sunday was the worst Sunday we've had all year."

"It's like a ghost town down here," said Ray Chisholm, owner of Soft Covers bookstore.

Others, like Bill Ellenbogen, owner of Bogen's restaurant where sales were doubled Monday and Tuesday night, praised the convention for its economic boost to the community.

"I've been real pleased," he said. "It's far better than what we normally do in the first week of August."

Many restaurateurs said they were upset because Virginia Tech, which coordinated services for the convention, provided so much catered food service at the convention that the motor coachers never left campus.

"People are furious," said Roya Nazare, co-owner of Champs Sports Bar in Blacksburg. "Our business has been dead since last week."

Osmund Chan, general manager of Anchy's restaurant, certainly wasn't complaining about the motor coachers. His sales tripled Sunday and doubled the rest of the week. "It's been quite good," he said.

Kevin Murphy, executive chef at Tech's Donaldson Brown Center, headed up convention food services, which were run through the university's athletic department.

He said most of the catering for the convention was done by World Wide Concessions Service from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which handles football games for the university.

A food court set up in a large tent outside Lane Stadium offered breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets, including wine and beer. World Wide also ran concession stands around campus selling popcorn, peanuts, hotdogs and hamburgers.

"It just goes to show how effective Virginia Tech is at keeping the dollars on campus," said Joe Slattery, owner of the Underground. He tripled his inventory in preparation for hordes of customers that never came.

Restaurant owners have been upset with Tech in the past saying it's nearly impossible to compete against the on-campus eateries that don't charge a meal tax because they are run by the state.

Tech reserved five spots for local merchants in the convention's two outdoor food courts, but they didn't come cheap.

Buddy Bundy, owner of the Ton-80 Club in Blacksburg, said he had to give the university $1,000 or 20 percent of his sales, "whichever is greater," to secure his spot near Tech's baseball field.

It appeared to be paying off Thursday during lunch as a line of convention goers gobbled down the pit-barbeque he cooked on-site.

"I'm doing real well during lunch," Bundy said. He was upset, though, because the exhibit area around him shut down at 6 p.m. and he couldn't serve dinner.

In addition to Bundy, Backstreets Pizza, Taco Bell and Domino's Pizza also made deals with Tech and set up booths at the convention. Murphy admitted that the relationship between Tech and the downtown merchants "is a sour one," but said the food services offered at this year's convention were similar to those offered at FMCA's convention in Wyoming.

Several months before the convention, Blacksburg Town Manager Ron Secrist, fearing a repeat of last year's convention in Wyoming where restaurants ran out of food, hosted a series of informational sessions to prepare local business owners.

Ellenbogen agreed with some disgruntled managers who said the town built up the financial impact of the convention too much.

"If I wanted to be angry, the town certainly could have given me cause because the picture isn't as bright as the town painted it," he said. Bogen's brought in extra workers Saturday and Sunday night that were left standing around because their wasn't much business from the convention.

"I'm glad they did it, but I'd be very surprised if it has the $10 to $12 million impact the town talked about," Ellenbogen said.

Chris McCollum, co-owner of the Hokie House, said he bought $3,000 worth of extra food to prepare for the convention and has had about 40 FMCA customers.

"If there's $10 million coming into this economy then I'd like to know where it's going because nothing's coming here," he said.

Secrist said the town worked hard to prepare for the convention and wasn't trying to over sell the convention to the local business community.

"My parents always told me it was better to be over prepared than under prepared," he said. "

He added that the town won't know the impact of the convention until October when the sales tax figures from August have been compiled. He also pointed out that all of the area motels were booked solid for the past week, which doesn't usually happen the first week of August.

Lindsay Coleman, owner of Maxwell's, said he was delighted with the extra business he got from the convention. "[Tuesday] night was great," he said. "We had a packed house and then some."

Jeff Neikirk, assistant manager of Macados, said his restaurant's business has been slower than usual in the past week.

"I really think the convention scared away a lot of our customers," he said.

Carrie Pugh, assistant manager of Kroger's in Blacksburg, said the grocery store has catered several events for the convention and seen a slight increase in customer traffic the past few days.

"I've just been real impressed with the whole event," she said. "We've really enjoyed them."