The Big E attracts hundreds of thousands of people to West Springfield over the course of its 17-day run. That must be really good for local businesses to have that kind of traffic flowing past their shops and storefronts. Then again, maybe not so much.
“The effect is drastic,” Victoria Squeo said. “I think it cuts our business almost to nothing for the next 18 days.”
Squeo is the senior sales associate for Sink and Spout, a high-end fixture showroom at 1060 Memorial Ave. She said sales have been good at the West Springfield store since it opened two years ago, but during the run of The Big E, it hardly seems worthwhile driving in. But she does.
“We don’t close during The Big E, but a lot of people just don’t want to come down here at that time,” she said. “We even post on our website alternate routes to get here, but people just don’t want to deal with the traffic. It’s got to be a nearly 90 percent drop.”
Leonardo Alfarone said he doesn’t see a 90 percent drop in sales, but he sees a lot at Mama Mia’s Pizzeria and Trattoria.
“During the early part of the week, it’s not too bad, when the traffic is good. But later, like toward the weekend it gets bad, because people are staying away. And, for the most part, they stay away for the whole 17 days. Most of our business is take out and deliveries. The dine-in is a small part of what we do. He said.
Overall, Alfarone estimates the restaurant loses upwards of 10 percent off the top.
The Big E began yesterday and runs until Oct. 1.
But not all businesses along the Memorial Avenue strip feel the negative effects of Big E traffic. Amar Singh said sales at his Blue Moon Smoke Shop in the Memorial Plaza continue apace.
“I don’t see any effects. It is just as it is always,” he said.
The folks at Uptown Liquor at 1122 Memorial Ave. said The Big E is a great revenue builder.
Sales associate Theresa Brousseau said the store’s sales increased during the Big E run.
“Absolutely,” she said. “When The Big E gets going, especially toward the nighttime then we are busy straight through.”
In the Memorial Plaza, the manager of an apparel shop, Rainbow, Angie Rodriguez, said The Big E creates a host of headaches for her and her staff.
“Our sales go really down when it opens,” she said. “I think as much as 25 to 30 percent.”
The cut in revenues means she has to cut her staff and that is always hard.
“I have to cut them, and their paychecks get reduced, and the store opens a little later because of The Big E traffic. My girls were not aware of the traffic, and they were late opening up,” she said. “A lot of people don’t want to come in at all during these weeks.”
She also complained that the traffic generated by the fair creates secondary issues as well.
“That’s another problem. The guy who makes deliveries to us can’t get here until after 6 p.m. We close at 8 p.m., so when he comes late, we have to get everything hauled off the truck by exactly the right time.”
Michael Yim agrees with Rodriguez. He manages a similar store, Pretty Woman, in the same plaza. He said every year the store takes a significant revenue cut during the run of The Big E.
“Every year our profit goes down by about 20 percent. It’s a pretty big deal for us,” he said.
Yim said his big days are Friday and Saturday, but during The Big E walk-in traffic is greatly reduced.
“Especially Friday and Saturday are big days for us, so that is a big negative impact,” he said.
The employees of many national chain stores could not speak about sales on the record, but some did say that the weeks of the Big E represent very quiet times. Employees at one male-oriented business in the plaza said they use the Big E slow down to conduct inventories and to clean the store.
