by Kent Jennings Brockwell
Staff Writer
The Super Bowl is coming and most of the festivities will be close to the river. But what about those merchants who aren’t?
While some bars, restaurants and shops will be located inside the entertainment zones, many merchants located on the outskirts of the designated areas are wondering what kind of impact they should, or should not, expect from the Super Bowl experience.
Benoit Desclefs, co-owner of the Magnificat Cafe on the corner of Laura and Monroe streets, said he is preparing for longer hours and a bigger-than-average crowd, but he is also trying hard not to over-prepare.
“I am just being careful and am adding more help,” he said.
But Desclefs is even being careful when adding additional workers. He said that his wife Kathleen, also a co-owner, and another employe’s wife are going to come in to help if there are large crowds.
“Financially, I am being very careful,” he said. “It is only going to be here for one week so I don’t want to overspend, especially being so far away from the stadium.”
While the Magnificat Cafe is usually only open for breakfast and lunch, Desclefs said he is going to extend hours to include dinner for the Feb. 4-6 weekend. He is also going to decrease his menu size but said he will add more items that are “quick to cook, quick to serve and quick to eat.”
“We can’t have a full menu if there are 900 people at the door,” he said.
Philip Parandes, a new restaurateur around the corner from Desclefs’ cafe, said he is optimistic but apprehensive about how to plan for the Super Bowl masses. Nevertheless, Parandes said he is quite excited about the event because it will give him an opportunity to show off his new restaurant, Sage’s Cajun Cafe, which opened this week.
“There will be so many people down here, and not just visitors, but loads of people from Jacksonville,” he said. “I will definitely stay open all of Super Bowl week.”
Parandes said he will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner throughout the week. He said he is also bringing in an additional cajun chef for the week.
Martin and Virginia Readion, owners of the London Bridge Pub, said they are looking forward to the influx of people during the busy week but hope their pub isn’t too far away from the edge of the entertainment zone.
“We hope to be very busy,” said Virginia.
Compared to the Florida-Georgia weekend, Virginia said she expects about the same crowd size, if not bigger, but expects the Super Bowl participants to spend more money.
“The college students that some to the Florida-Georgia game are all on a budget,” she said. “We are going to see a lot more spending because these people will have more discretionary income.”
While restaurants and bars near outside the entertainment zone are having trouble deciding what to expect from
the Super week, some non-restaurant businesses on the cuff of the area are also not sure what
to expect from the Super Bowl crowd.
Greg Vaccaro and Kimberly Fusto, co-owners of Vaccaro’s, an upscale leather goods store on Laura Street, said they have high hopes for the big week but are not expecting throngs of people to come crashing through their doors.
“We just want to have fun with it,” said Vaccaro. “We are unknown, so I don’t have any really high expectations. We are not Gucci yet, but our quality is better.”
Fusto said the store will be open throughout the week and she has also signed up for a station at one of the Super Bowl-related expos where she will display several items from the Vaccaro line of products. Fusto said she signed up for the expo display in hopes of generating interest in the products and in the store.
Even with the expo display, Vaccaro said he doesn’t think
too many people will be
worried about shopping for leather bags during the event packed week.
“The Super Bowl is not a business event, it is a social event,” he said.