VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Family Weekend crowds bring long waits and opportunities to Syracuse restaurants
Landon Stilz: Syracuse University’s Family Weekend brings parents and loved ones to campus, but the crowds don’t stop at the university’s door. From packed restaurants to longer waits for a table, the weekend can be a mixed experience for students and local businesses. NCC’s Helaina Stovin joins us now with a look at the impact downtown. Helaina?
Helaina Stovin: Thanks, guys. Now, while the streets behind me right now are pretty mellow, this time tomorrow they are going to be flooded with families visiting their students for family weekend. Now, these visitations bring an extra demand and extra foot traffic. And for businesses like The Whiskey Coop that brings benefits and benefits that may last longer than just this weekend. Take a look.
Stovin: For Syracuse, Family Weekend means familiar faces, time together and a chance to show families around the city. But when thousands of visitors come to town, that excitement can come with a few frustrations.
Ella Franzman: My parents ended up being in a hotel 45 minutes away from campus, which definitely wasn’t ideal because then they were Ubering, and Uber costs get more expensive the further you are. One morning we tried to get food at Collegetown, and it was like a three-and-a-half-hour wait just to get some food and coffee. So definitely not an ideal situation.
Stovin: And students aren’t the only ones adjusting to the crowds. At the Whiskey Coop, preparation is key as the restaurant gets ready to serve visiting families alongside its regular customers.
Charley Maphey: I mean, we have to order more, we have to staff heavier, heavier than almost any time of the year, so we will actually borrow staff from our northern restaurants, which we’re lucky to have.
Stovin: The added traffic can bring opportunities, but it also comes with challenges for businesses trying to keep the ship steady. And while the weekend brings customers through the door, the biggest payoff might not happen right away.
Maphey: There are mostly positives from it. We tend to even get busier after parents weekend because it just draws additional visibility to us. People are like, “Oh yeah, Whiskey Coop, we were just there.” Everybody has a good time, it’s fun.
Stovin: For students, the weekend is about making memories that last a lifetime. For local businesses, it’s a chance to make an impression that could bring customers back long after the visitors go home.
Stovin: Now, guys, Maphey told me that they are more excited than anything for this weekend. So, not much pressure being felt with these local businesses, but definitely an extra demand to come. Guys, back to you.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Syracuse University’s Family Weekend brought thousands of visitors to town, and with them came both excitement and a few frustrations.
For students, the weekend meant time with loved ones and a chance to show their families around the city. But the crowds did not stop at campus.
Ella Franzman, a student, said her family ran into problems finding a place to stay.
“My parents ended up being in a hotel 45 minutes away from campus, which definitely wasn’t ideal because then they were Ubering, and Uber costs get more expensive the further you are,” Franzman said.
She said getting a meal was also a challenge.
“One morning, we tried to get food at Collegetown [Bagels], and it was like a three-and-a-half-hour wait just to get some food and coffee. So definitely not an ideal situation,” Franzman said.
Students were not the only ones adjusting. At the Whiskey Coop, the restaurant prepared to serve visiting families alongside its regular customers.
General Manager Charley Maphey said the restaurant prepares for the rush by increasing its inventory and bringing in additional help.
“We have to order more, we have to staff heavier than almost any time of the year, so we will actually borrow staff from our northern restaurants, which we’re lucky to have,” Maphey said.
The added traffic created opportunities for local businesses, but it also brought challenges. Maphey said the biggest payoff did not come right away.
“There are mostly positives from it,” Maphey said. “We tend to even get busier after Parents Weekend because it just draws additional visibility to us. People are like, ‘Oh yeah, Whiskey Coop, we were just there.’ Everyone has fun.”
Family Weekend gave local businesses like Whiskey Coop an opportunity to connect with visiting families and encourage them to return to Syracuse beyond the weekend.