Yahoo For Barrie Tilghman!
The Going Nuts Cafe has come out with a petition drive against the Christmas Day Parade down Mt. Hermon Road. That's right, they have some 80 people with the same hand writing, (?) who have signed a petition trying to fight the Salisbury Jaycees in an attempt to STOP the Christmas Day Parade from happening.
Not for nothing but I used to be in the Restaurant Business for many years and let me tell you Folks, this Parade is between 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM and I don't care what these people say, they're NOT losing much of anything!
As a matter of fact, I'd personally use that as a marketing tool to invite as many people as I could get attending that Parade to come in and get a special discount for stopping in before or after the Parade.
Here's another thing about Going Nuts Cafe that is flat out stupid. The Jaycees tried to work with them as they hold a "Past Presidents Brunch" just before the event and they offered to bring ALL of that business to Going Nuts Cafe and they said, WE DON'T WANT YOUR BUSINESS! You know what then, UP YOURS!
The Mayor even offered to make a ramp from One Stop Job Parking Lot to their parking lot and they wanted nothing to do with it. Then, GET THIS, they challenged the Chamber of Commerce by stating they are supposed to support local businesses, yet Going Nuts Cafe isn't a member of the Chamber of Commerce! If you're going to talk the talk, walk the walk!
I'll add, Barrie Tilghman has chosen to stand her ground, even against the petition and the route will stay the same. It's very obvious that these people refused to work with the City in any way and there's something personal involved here. Going Nuts Cafe also claims they have 50 employees that live paycheck to paycheck and depend on all business coming through the door. Yeah, right, 50 people! Well, there's 50 signatures on that petition anyway, not including their spouses.
Great decision Barrie, for what it's worth.
I can't believe how ridiculous some local business owners and employees can be.. It is a COMMUNITY PARADE for 3 hours, during 1 day out of 365!! You know what is funny.. NEW YORK CITY, yes the ENTIRE city, SHUTS DOWN COMPLETELY (all 5 burroughs for the most part) to host the NYC Marathon EVERY SINGLE YEAR! I wish that folks down here on the shore would realize that by working with the community and its residents it is actually GOOD for business! I bet many parade goers would actually stop in to restaurants along the parade route to purchase coffee, drinks, soup, etc.
ReplyDeleteI think that someone should ask the real reason why the Jaycees want to move the parade out of downtown and back onto Mt. Hermon Road.
ReplyDeleteThe parade has been out of downtown for many many years. Ten years or more ago it was moved and has been on Eastern Shore Drive until they moved it to Mt. Hermon road last year.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Nut's has many regular customers, however having the parade right in front of their business may expose the place to many more people from out of town that have never been there.
You are right Joe 2pm to 5 pm on a Sunday is not a huge loss for a restaurant, not from my 25 years of experience.
Nobody wants to have to close their doors to business, I think I would set up a table outside with free coffee and pastries with a chef exhibition outside and make it a party.
Before the parade went to Eastern Shore Drive, and after it left downtown the parade was around the Salisbury Mall. Does anyone else remember that? Up St. Albins Drive, Across Mt. Herman Road west bound, and down Civic Ave. I don't remember any of the Mall Merchants complaining. They may have, but I don't remember. I also don't remember how many years that this was the Parade route either.
ReplyDeletePlenty of places to park and pretty much the whole mall blocked off.
The Old Mall route was a long parade, I remember those days. I used to sell cotton candy and candy apples at the Christmas parades from Pocomoke to Georgetown Delaware.
ReplyDeleteI remember one year it was a 5 hour parade, I made close to $200 that day hustling apples on a stick and sugar with some red dye : )
Pocomoke has one of the best night parades, or used to, my days of selling candy for a fast buck are over. I do remember the UMES marching band and they were tight~!
As a long time employee, I can honestly say that I can't remember Mr. Albero as a regular customer. So what makes him think he is qualified to comment on the situation at hand? I am one of the employees (many who are single parents) who do live paycheck to paycheck). I also personally discussed the petition with some of the 80 or so people who signed it. And no, the signatures were not done by the same hand -if you have the eyesight to notice the mayor's new car, you should be able to tell the difference in handwriting!! The closing off of the streets started well before 2 pm, customers were forced to finish their meal prematurely and pack it to go. The issue is that the access to parking is only to Mt. Hermon Road, and was totally blocked off by the city. When the parade was held by the mall, you need to remember that there are many street access points on 4 roads, not just one or two. Another issue was that there was a rain date that precluded any Christmas party bookings for an additional Sunday afternoon, which equates two days of lost income potential. As a restaurant employee, I can tell you that in the summer, we lose business to OC, backyard BBQ's and summer vacations. We count on a good Christmas Season to even things out for the year. We are not New York, with its traffic flow and tourist trade, we are Salisbury, Maryland and any comparison is ridiculous. Russ Horne was attempting to work with the community by suggesting a route that did not impact small business. He was looking out for his employees, not just his business. Apparently another issue was that some of the bands in the parade did not like the turns in the old route. Gee, I remember marhing in the band in high school, and we didn't have any say in the route, we just marched!! And no, we didn't have walk in traffic except to use the bathroom. Oh wait!! We sold about $30 worth of hot chocolate!! How could I forget???? With children the primary focus of parades, good restaurant food was pushed to the wayside by cotton candy, caramel apples and balloon vendors. The parade was a no win situation for the restaurant and my children's Christmas. I ended up picking up an extra shift, taking time away from my children to make up for lost income...Thanks Joe for the research into the problem before you opened your mouth.
ReplyDelete