Boon or bane? : Bikes, Blues & BBQ has created mixed feelings among local businesses.

— Soon the roar of engines and the beat of drums will be blaring up and down Dickson Street, as the 10th annual Bikes, Blues & BBQ festival comes to town beginning Wednesday. For many, that's music to the ears because the bike rally will be a sure-fire way to boost local business.

Not all local business, though.

While the rally is expected to again draw thousands upon thousands into the area, that doesn't necessarily mean the visitors will be boosting sales at each and every store along the way.

"I know if you're a restaurant or a bar or a hotel, this is a godsend for you," Lisa Sharp said. "But it's not like that for all businesses. My normal clients are not going to be coming down here to shop that week, and the ones that are here, they're not here to shop in our local stores."

Sharp is the owner of Nightbird Books at 205 W. Dickson St. Although her location seems like an ideal place to run a bookstore, she said that's certainly not the case the week of the bike festival.

"This will be our first year on Dickson Street, and last year, even though I was located off Dickson, my sales were almost zero during the week of the Bikes, Blues and BBQ," Sharp said. "So we've decided just to close the store and work on inventory during that time.

"I spoke with the used bookstore down the street, and they have tried to do different stuff to attract more customers, but it doesn't really work. They said they've put all their motorcycle books out in the front of the store, but it didn't really matter."

Sharp moved from the Fayetteville Mill District to Dickson Street, hoping the change in location would equal a rise in revenue. And while that might be the case most of the year, Sharp knew coming in that it would be a bad move when it came to the week of the bike rally.

"A minimum loss for us for closing the store will be $1,200 to $1,500," Sharp said. "Also, when I took this space, my parking lot had already been rented out for the festival, and I'm not even sure if I'll be able to get some of that back later down the road."

Sharp's decision to close up shop and concentrate on inventory is a way to keep her employees working, at the very least.

Other businesses who might know that Bikes, Blues & BBQ is bad for their stores will still try to fight through it by staying open.

Underwood's Fine Jewelers is one of those businesses. Even though owner Bill Underwood knows his store revenue will take a hit, he's decided to keep running everything like normal.

"You just don't draw the customers in that week," Underwood said. "It is still not good for sales because regular customers have a hard time getting down here and finding parking. But it is a good thing on many levels. It's a good thing for the community because it brings more business into our local restaurants and hotels."

At one time a few years ago, Underwood wouldn't have been so quick to praise the bike rally. But he said some changes made him change his tune.

"In the past I've been critical, not of the event but of the fact they closed the street," Underwood said. "They used to have the street closed up above West Avenue, and that made it difficult to get to our store. So that was my main criticism, but in the last couple of years, they've fixed that to where the street is open fortraffic beyond West Avenue.

"Really, now that they've fixed that problem, we've been very cooperative with the event, and we're even hosting a VIP party for the event executives, and this will be our second year to do that."

Several business owners admit the bike rally will do no good for their sales, but even some of those who view it as a bad event for their own personal store still know the festival is a good event for Fayetteville as a whole.

"It's a two-sided coin, and it depends on which side you're on," said Bruce Walker, owner of Flying Possum Leather. "That week pretty much runs my standard business away, but it is good for some other businesses.

"As far as being a real positive financially for me, no, it's not. But now that we've had the event for 10 years, they know who we are, and the people that come to this know that if you want to get the best leather products around, you come to our store."

Parking the week of the rally seems to be the major problem mentioned by store owners. With so many bikes, music stages and barbecue vendors - not to mention a whole bundle of extra people on the streets - there's simply no room for regular customers to get to stores.

For some, though, the drop-off in regular shoppers won't make that much of a difference.

"Our regular clientele might not get down here and be able to park anywhere during the week," said Renee Hunt, owner of French Metro Antiques. "But a lot of our business is done over the Web site. So I don't know that (the bike rally) will affect us that much."

Like Walker said, however, there are two sides to every coin, or story. Some stores aren't in the same boat.

Julie Sill co-owns Hog Haus Brewery and Common Grounds, which is located right in the middle of the bike-festival action. Sill knows the big event is a great plus for her businesses.

"Basically, we really enjoy it," Sill said. "Just like any event, there's going to be more people here, and that's going to be good for the business."

Sill believes some local residents might have a tendency to stay away from Bikes, Blues & BBQ because of a lack of understanding about the event. And while there might be the perception among some that the rally leads to a rowdy set of customers the week of the rally, Sill says that's not the case at all.

"It's just a great family event," Sill said. "Every year, we've been very happy with it. The number of arrests has been very low, and the police have increased patrol. So I think it's just good for Fayetteville.

"Whatever you can do to attract more people to your city, that's going to help business. And these are people that have spent $20,000 to $40,000 on bikes, so they have the money to spend. It's an experience for them, and they are going to keep coming back, so whatever you can do to make them feel welcome and attract them to our local stores, that's what you should do."

No matter which side the shops, restaurants and other stores do stand on the week of Bikes, Blues & BBQ, most agree a few days of really bad - or perhaps really good - business shouldn't change their view on Dickson Street business. Bike rally or not, these people own businesses here for a reason, because most of the time business is good.

"Four bad days aren't going to match the other 361 days out of the year," Sharp said. "For those other 361 days, this is a great place to run a business, and that easily makes up for this week."

News, Pages 7 on 09/22/2009

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