Tuesday, May. 26, 2009

The Biker effect

Rally's impact on Carolina Forest businesses minimal

The many changes for this year's May motorcycle rallies, including scattering more vendors west of the Waterway, did little to drive customers to Carolina Forest businesses, managers and owners said.

The new rules in Myrtle Beach - which required helmets for all and barred parking lot loitering, among other things - dampened turnout overall, which disappointed some business owners. They also criticized the police checkpoints, which backed up traffic on U.S. 501.

Eggs Up Grill in the Food Lion shopping center on U.S. 501 wasn't open for the 2008 rallies so the owners weren't sure what to expect, but they were hoping to serve breakfast, or lunch, to some visiting bikers. They even had special T-shirts made showing two sunnyside-up eggs atop a motorcycle with the words "Born to be Fried" on them.

"We wanted to welcome them," said owner Christine Bonar of the Harley rally response. "We had a little bit of traffic, maybe three to four tables a day."

South on 501, a Budweiser banner emblazoned with "Welcome Bikers" was strung above the Beef O'Brady's door. But owner Gary Goss said the rallies usually bring a bump in local customers, not bikers.

"They think, 'it's crowded in town, I'll just stay here'," he said.

"Our business held pretty steady," said Goss, who has owned the eatery for almost six years.

Most of the few who did stop in came for breakfast and said they didn't expect to return to the area for another rally.

"They were very nice, but they said they would not be back next year," Goss said. "I'm glad I'm out here. I'm tracking pretty much the same numbers as last year, knock on wood."

The rallies generally serve as a kick-off to the tourist season for much of the restaurant industry, said Mike Ramsey, general manager of Buffalo Wild Wings Grill and Bar in the Piggly Wiggly Shoppes at Forest Square center.

The checkpoints did a lot to discourage bikers from traveling around, he said. "They didn't want to go to the hassle of that to come here."

The way the rallies and the changes were handled "left a bad taste in everybody's mouth," Ramsey said. "To me, that's a bad call, with the struggling economy as it is [for businesses] to take a hit like that."

For the first time, Myrtle Beach Speedway, just south on U.S. 501, was home to rally-related events, but Ramsey said those didn't boost business at his place.

"I checked," he said. "There was not much going on down there."

Dan Diebold lives in Burning Ridge and hauls gasoline from Wilmington to stations on the Grand Strand. He said gas consumption was down 50 percent during the Harley rally.

There's been a lot of debate over whether the economy or the rules had the most impact on turnout. But his wife, Chase Diebold, had no doubt about the cause.

"A lot of it was the rules. If you know bikers, they will sell their children to go for a ride," she said, laughing. "The economy wouldn't do it."

Dan Diebold said he talked to a lot of bikers while making his deliveries. "They said flat out they would not go to Myrtle Beach."