Why RNC Business was Mixed at Downtown Milwaukee Restaurants

Frederica Freyberg:
With so many people coming into Milwaukee and opening their wallets through the week, there was an expectation for a $200 million economic boost to the city. But as Steven Potter reports, while some businesses made out, others fell flat.

Steven Potter:
For some, the restaurant business this week in Milwaukee has been booming.

Marla Poytinger:
From the minute we opened our doors yesterday, all the way through, we have been slammed busy. We have been packed full for.

Steven Potter:
For Marla Poytinger from the New Fashioned bar and restaurant, which is right across from the Fiserv Forum, the increase in traffic from the Republican National Convention has more than exceeded expectations.

Marla Poytinger:
We told our team to expect about the equivalent of one Bucks game every day this week, which would have been fantastic four days in a row. Yesterday alone, we did five Bucks games.

Steven Potter:
But for others who are further away from the convention activity, business has been significantly different and disappointing.

Anita Marx:
We’ve been hearing people haven’t been coming down because restaurants are not getting enough business.

Anne Marie Cieri:
It seems like there are just so many events going on. Just — we’re also kind of on the outskirts of where everything’s taking place. So, I mean, people sometimes — seems like they’re forgetting, like, the little local spots. We had, like, you know, extra staff on ready standby, but we’ve actually called off a few people here and there just because numbers have not been what we expected.

Steven Potter:
In the months preceding the convention, there was a lot of talk and excitement about a substantial financial bump coming from the infusion of the 50,000 convention attendees.

Omar Shaikh:
I think originally the thought was it would be a $200 million in economic impact.

Steven Potter:
Omar Shaikh of the high-end steakhouse Carnivore says business at his restaurant has been slower than he’d like.

Omar Shaikh:
Yesterday we were decent, not crazy by any means, not really overly busy.

Steven Potter:
Normally, Shaikh says, conventions that come to town for company meetings and trainings are busy, but the Republican National Convention isn’t a normal convention.

Omar Shaikh:
There aren’t restricted areas and security and things of this nature. So I would say this is — political conventions are certainly different.

Steven Potter:
Shaikh says he’s also talked to some restaurant owners who decided not to open at all during the week of the convention.

Omar Shaikh:
And they said, “Well, look, I don’t really have a lot of reservations on the books.” So if I don’t have business, if I order a lot of the product, you know, it’s perishable, right? And they don’t do business and they actually lose money.

Steven Potter:
One person keeping a close eye on the economic impact of the RNC is Dale Kooyenga. He’s the president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.

Dale Kooyenga:
The Milwaukee brand is known and it’s things like this. It’s like the Bucks, the Brewers, events like this where you could go around the world and people say, “Oh, I know Milwaukee, Wisconsin.”

Steven Potter:
As for the lack of business some spots are seeing during the convention, Kooyenga says…

Dale Kooyenga:
You can’t just look at your four days. You have to look at the longer impact of tourism in Milwaukee.

Steven Potter:
For Shaikh, he may have wanted more of an economic impact from the RNC, but he also understands it’s a long game.

Omar Shaikh:
The greater hope is, like, that everyone that came here from around the world and around the country to say this is an incredible city. I want to return to that city. I want to go back to that restaurant. I want to go back to — stay in that hotel. And hopefully that a lot of people and a lot of organizations will see how great of a city it is that they’ll book large scale conventions here with us.