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The article below was found on...
www.ToledoBlade.Com
Article published September
27, 2009
Businesses look to cash in on
big crowds
By
JON CHAVEZ
BLADE BUSINESS WRITER
After working 15 years for other restaurant
owners, Ahmad Mahmoud decided in May that
the time had arrived for him to open his own
restaurant.
Taking over a vacant bar at 319 North
Superior St., Mr. Mahmoud’s optimism is
heavily fueled by one thing — the new Lucas
County Arena.
“I was going to buy a place two years ago,
but I held off when the arena was announced
because I wanted to see what would happen.
When it became clear the arena was going to
be built I paid a few extra bucks to get the
site I wanted,” he said.
He has converted the former Spice Bar into
the Hat Trick Bar & Grill in honor of the
new Toledo Walleye hockey team that will be
a prime tenant of the $105 million arena.
With eight flat-screen TVs, family-friendly
foods, and a menu with dishes he plans to
name for Walleye players, Mr. Mahmoud has
high hopes that the nearby arena can turn
the Hat Trick into a profitable hangout for
players and hockey fans.
“It’s a risky thing. This could work out; it
could not work out,” he said. “But I saw
what happened around the Mud Hens stadium
and I’m very hopeful this will work out.”
Other restaurants, taverns,
and hotels in the downtown also are
optimistic that the arena’s lineup of the
Walleye, Toledo Bullfrogs arena-football
team, college hockey, concerts, and
family-oriented shows will provide a steady
income stream to boost their bottom lines.
“To me, it’s a match made in heaven for the
downtown retailers,” said Rob Horvath, chief
operating officer of Tony Packo’s Inc.,
whose Packo’s at the Park at 7 South
Superior St. is two blocks from the arena.
When the former Toledo Sports Arena was on
Toledo’s east side, Packo’s Front Street
restaurant always benefited from events
there, Mr. Horvath said. “Hockey was always
good to us,” he said.
“With the new arena it’s almost a guarantee
that it will bring people to our [Packo’s at
the Park] restaurant. Yes, there’s going to
be more competition than Front Street, but
you’re talking about bringing 8,000-plus
people to that arena,” he said.
The presence of thousands of customers at
events nearby persuaded Donna Weiser, owner
of Eddy B’s in the basement of the National
City Bank Building, 405 Madison Ave., to
convert her restaurant to a dinner club and
lounge.
It will stay open until 10 p.m. Monday
through Wednesday and until 2 a.m. Thursday
through Saturday. Eddy B’s now is open only
until 3 p.m. on weekdays.
Eddy B’s will be renamed the Ice Lounge,
will add a bar to serve liquor, and will
open in December, Ms. Weiser said. “We’ve
been working on this for a while, ever since
the arena came down,” she added.
Eric Sitter, co-owner of Sidelines at the
Arena at 233 North Huron St., was counting
on arena business when he named the
restaurant that he opened in March in the
former Jackson’s Lounge and Grill.
“We were always interested in downtown, but
everything we looked at, it just never
seemed to be the right fit,” Mr. Sitter
said. “And then, when the arena story broke
and we knew it was going to happen, we
stumbled across our [Huron Street] site.” He
said he expects the arena to build
Sidelines’ customer base in the next couple
of years.
Mike Sapara, general manager of the 400-room
Park Inn Toledo at 101 North Summit St.,
said the hotel lost corporate business when
Owens-Illinois Inc. moved to Perrysburg. But
the arena could restore some of it. “We have
an agreement in place with the arena making
us the preferred hotel of the arena, and
that has already generated 655 upcoming room
nights,” he said.
The SeaGate Convention Centre has never
really been a big draw, being too big for
small conventions, too small for larger
ones, he said.
“Our darkest day was when the Amway people
stopped using the SeaGate Centre because
they outgrew it. Twelve thousand room nights
were lost when they moved their convention
to Cleveland,” Mr. Sapara said.
Down the street at 444 North Summit, the
Crowne Plaza hotel also is optimistic about
new business. The hotel has booked some acts
that will appear at the arena, and it hopes
to book a few sports teams.
“The city has made all the right moves with
keeping this downtown. The Mud Hens stadium,
SeaGate Centre, and the new arena form a
perfect trifecta,” Crowne Plaza General
Manager Larry Ross said.
Christopher Kline, general manager of
PizzaPapalis restaurant at 519 Monroe St.,
foresees an arena hockey season that could
financially complement a typical baseball
season with the Mud Hens.
“With the Mud Hens, you have people coming
in two hours before games to enjoy the whole
atmosphere. They eat, they go to the game,
and maybe they stop in afterward,” Mr. Kline
said. “Honestly, we hope that opening day
for hockey turns out to be as good as
opening day for the Mud Hens.”
An early test, Mr. Kline added, will be the
attendance at a slate of concerts at the
arena, beginning with an appearance by
ventriloquist and stand-up comedian Jeff
Dunham on Oct. 9. “I would say the concerts
will be a test of how people feel about the
arena. If the response to the shows is good,
they will bring even better shows to the
arena,” he said.
Mr. Sitter of Sidelines at the Arena likes
that prospect. “On a Monday night or when
there’s no ballgame or events, it’s kind of
slow. There’s just nothing going on
downtown,” he said. “But with the arena, the
potential’s unbelievable.” |
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