RNC hurting local retail, restaurants? (Tampa: living, versus, businesses)

[crazynip]

Originally Posted by planedition

I am basing the statement on the fact that I work with these industries and I know for a fact there's been a flurry of hiring. It's also quite obvious if you go to the Tampa Tribune

Originally Posted by thethinktank

The Tampa Tribune is headquarters to NPR and several other news outlets this week. Those aren't new employees you're seeing, guy.

Ironic, considering how many people WFLA and the Tampa Tribune has laid off in the past 5 years, they have a surplus of space in that big building.

[Crane's Rooster]

Without getting into the politics, I think a large part of the problem is that the convention is pretty much self contained. Most attendees are being offered free meals by sponsors and lobbyists. On top of that, most attendees are being transported to and from their hotels to the convention by buses hired by the convention committee. If the buses are making direct trips to and from, this doesn't leave much opportunity for people to get out and explore Tampa or make spontaneous trips to the local restaurants, bars, shops, etc. And of course, the whole security element may have been overblown and is way over the top. I understand we live in post 911 environment, but there has to be a better balance between security and freedoms. Unlike the Superbowl or other major sporting events, it almost seems like attendees don't have the option of doing unplanned or unrelated convention events.

It will be interesting to see how Charlotte approaches their convention and what the results will be there. FYI I am not a Republican but I root for anything that could boost our state's economy and image. It's sad some of the bashing Tampa has taken so far. I hope in the end though that this will be a boost to Tampa Bay.

[thethinktank]

Originally Posted by Crane's Rooster

Without getting into the politics, I think a large part of the problem is that the convention is pretty much self contained. Most attendees are being offered free meals by sponsors and lobbyists. On top of that, most attendees are being transported to and from their hotels to the convention by buses hired by the convention committee. If the buses are making direct trips to and from, this doesn't leave much opportunity for people to get out and explore Tampa or make spontaneous trips to the local restaurants, bars, shops, etc. And of course, the whole security element may have been overblown and is way over the top. I understand we live in post 911 environment, but there has to be a better balance between security and freedoms. Unlike the Superbowl or other major sporting events, it almost seems like attendees don't have the option of doing unplanned or unrelated convention events.

Agreed entirely, this seems like a logical explanation for what might be going on. As you said, it'd be interesting to see how Charlotte does in contrast. If I were the DNC, I'd be paying close attention to the business complaints here in Tampa. It's be a nice talking point for their party if the DNC was a better boon for local merchants.

[crazynip]

Originally Posted by Crane's Rooster

Without getting into the politics, I think a large part of the problem is that the convention is pretty much self contained. Most attendees are being offered free meals by sponsors and lobbyists. On top of that, most attendees are being transported to and from their hotels to the convention by buses hired by the convention committee. If the buses are making direct trips to and from, this doesn't leave much opportunity for people to get out and explore Tampa or make spontaneous trips to the local restaurants, bars, shops, etc. And of course, the whole security element may have been overblown and is way over the top. I understand we live in post 911 environment, but there has to be a better balance between security and freedoms. Unlike the Superbowl or other major sporting events, it almost seems like attendees don't have the option of doing unplanned or unrelated convention events.

It will be interesting to see how Charlotte approaches their convention and what the results will be there. FYI I am not a Republican but I root for anything that could boost our state's economy and image. It's sad some of the bashing Tampa has taken so far. I hope in the end though that this will be a boost to Tampa Bay.

Good post...

As a registered Democrat, I had hoped the RNC would have better helped our local economy even though I think the Republicans are a bunch of douchebags. Money is money, no matter who is spending it.

However, at first glance, it looks like we (the taxpayers) will be left holding the bag when tax receipts fall WELL SHORT of paying for the security bill.

It's been quite a disturbing show of "police state" force to be perfectly honest with you. If this had been the DNC, I would feel the exact same way.

[sinatras]

I just came from a BBQ place in South Tampa. They are doing big business due to the RNC; I asked the lady at the drive-thru window. And by the way, those "free meals" Crane's talked about aren't free. Someone (namely the sponsors) are paying local Tampa merchants to make those meals. If you read the newspaper cover to cover like I do, you know that the major, well-rated restaurants have been fully booked this week. Without the RNC, that would not be happening. There are lots of people making money, but only those who were smart enough to bid for contracts etc.

There is no way we should expect the RNC attendees to go exploring Tampa Bay, either by car or by foot, in this excruciating heat and humidity. I bet they just want to be taken from one dark air-conditioned room to another, all via a nice cold bus. And fed, so they don't have to go anywhere that might have substandard A/C, like many Tampa restaurants (which is a whole other topic by itself). The bashing of Tampa was to be expected: it's unbearably hot, when it's unbearably hot, who wants to go sightseeing? this is not San Diego! they are probably not seeing much, except the ghettos.

[bnepler]

Of course the dnc does everything better. Don't forget these are the people that moved all the homeless with in a mile radius of obama's convention and put them in a fenced in location. Maybe they're so compassionate.

[chi_tino]

Originally Posted by sinatras

There are lots of people making money, but only those who were smart enough to bid for contracts etc.

Bingo -- what we are hearing is the Monday morning quarterbacking from those who didn't plan in advance.

Some of these retailers (especially downtown) act like they were just told about the RNC a week ago. Apparently the news that most government and business locations in the downtown area announced months ago that they were relocating somehow escaped the owners of these establishments, and now they are crying because they made poor business decisions.

I am not sure why they are publicly advertising that they screwed up, but again, that's another poor decision.

[Crane's Rooster]

Well to be fair, they did prepare. Many ordered extra food/inventory and brought on extra staff. On top of that not every business who's complaining of lost business is able to host the large parties that the RNC events are being held at. For instance the Quiznos or the local deli is not the type of establishment that's going to host the CNN party. What these smaller businesses were expecting was the walk up business from delegates, media, protesters and staff. But even the law enforcement is receiving catered meals. And I agree, the business that were able to handle the events and booked events in advance are reaping the benefits of their own foresight, the catering companies included, and that's a good thing for Tampa Bay and for all of Florida's economy. But it would have been good to see the small businesses benefit as well. Lastly I was in Boston for the 2004 DNC and local business and attractions did see a boost. Delegates did walk around and explore Boston and I can tell you that summer in Boston is not that much different than Tampa, it's hot and humid because downtown is surrounded by water. The biggest difference I saw there and here is that in Boston they only fortified the immediate area around the convention sites, it would be impossible to shut off all of downtown Boston which appears to be what they did in Tampa. However, that's not necessarily anyone's fault as much as a product of the world we live in. Because of St. Paul, Seattle and the Chicago NATO summit, there appeared to be a much greater need for security at this year's convention so I understand that point. I just wish it would have went better for the smaller businesses as well.

[sinatras]

There is no way in **** that you can compare the hottest, wettest day in a Boston summer to what we are experiencing right now. In Boston the angle of the sun is 10 degrees lower than in Central Florida; thus the sun is 10 times more able to produce heat in Florida than in Boston. I could walk around Boston on a 95-degree humid day with no problem. I could not do the same on a 90-degree day here. Does not surprise me at all that most of these RNC people are staying indoors. Florida is not really a "walk around outside and explore" kind of place unless you are talking about December.

By the way, for the record, I have lived in Boston and I will take Tampa any day of the week over those winters.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by planedition

Tampa received a $50 million FEDERAL grant (among other grants) to pay for security and other costs associated with the RNC, and the last time I read in the paper, there are MILLIONS of dollars left over, unspent. The downtown whiners could have lobbied for some of this money.

I have no affiliation with Tampa in any way but I think this thread has a very lively, informative discussion, though. So I Googled your comment. Indeed, this article has the breakdown. However, as a former small business owner I know that this money is earmarked for the city and all of the associated costs that they had to bear and not for a local Quizno's or even an office. I agree that businesses do need to think outside the box to make lemonade from lemons. For a Quizno's maybe they could have made that happen. I'm not sure about a local office, though. They probably have to eat the loss.

Where did $50 million in RNC grants go? A lot of places | TBO.com