Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 19, 1995 TAG: 9504190044
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center gets its first large convention this weekend, and probably so will the proprietors of a new Subway sandwich shop. That's because the convention delegates are 1,200 hungry teen-agers
"We are going to be swamped," said Allan Goldsmith, manager of the Subway eatery at Jefferson Street and Salem Avenue. His shop is opening today.
Indeed, many downtown Roanoke merchants are preparing to help feed and entertain the Virginia chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America. It is the first large group to meet at Roanoke's new conference center and sleep at Hotel Roanoke since the complex opened April 3.
The $43 million hotel and conference center project was developed with the promise that it would stimulate the local economy, and the first such spinoff is expected to hit downtown late Friday afternoon.
That's when the high school delegates will take their first dinner break.
In addition to booking 300 rooms at Hotel Roanoke, 125 rooms at the Roanoke Airport Marriott and 100 rooms at the Sheraton Inn Roanoke Airport, the students will be eating out because their convention package doesn't include meals.
The leadership conference runs through Sunday morning.
Although the hotel is setting up a special "food court" to feed the group, about half of the delegates are expected to look for meals outside, visiting eateries and shops in downtown and along Williamson Road, said Martha Mackey, executive director of the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Downtown Roanoke Inc. will run free shuttle buses to take the students to and from the hotel.
The bureau notified food and beverage establishments of the group's visit in advance so they could prepare. By Tuesday, some eateries said they were doing just that. Restaurants in the City Market building agreed to extend hours until 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights.
Owners of a pizza booth in the market building are offering convention-goers $1 off a whole pie.
"If it's pizza they want, it's pizza they'll get," said Bryce Moore, manager of Tony's Pizza. The eatery is preparing five times the dough normally readied for big weekends, Moore said.
Dremma Gaul, co-owner of Burger in the Square and Three Li'l Pigs Barbecue, also in the City Market building, planned to grind an extra 15 to 20 pounds of beef and order an extra case of fries.
The students' business, she said, represents extra cash in her pocketbook. "The only way to make extra income is to have extra business coming in," Gaul said.
The Subway shop is required by its franchise agreement to open on a Wednesday, and the high school group's visit made it worthwhile to open today rather than wait until next week, Goldsmith said. He said the extra supplies he ordered for the opening will be enough to feed any students who come his way.
And Scott Freday, manager of Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea, said his staff would roast extra beans. He planned to sell "a lot of everything."
All told, the economic impact of the group's visit could total hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to Mackey's calculations. Lodging and conference registration for the group alone totals $292,000, she said.
"It's a great piece of business," Mackey said.
by CNB