The truth of the World Cup & KC business is complex, small-business advocate says
The dream that was sold to Kansas City restaurant owners was that the FIFA World Cup would bring them an abundance of new customers, with 650,000 people projected to be in town.
With the last KC game just a day away, the reality has set in that this isn’t the case for everyone.
Businesses have already voiced their displeasure with their sales during the World Cup. The owner of Bisou, a French coffee shop off Southwest Boulevard, posted that her shops sales are down 50% since the beginning of the World Cup. The big winners of the World Cup have been Kansas City barbecue joints, as classics like Joe’s Kansas City and Arthur Bryant’s have received heavy foot traffic.
So who, or what, is really to blame for the lack of business? One local food influencer did some digging to see if this is happening for other establishments in Kansas City.
You may have heard of Window Wolf, the window cleaning business in Kansas City that has helped resurrect struggling businesses across the metro. It’s led by Davis Roethler, who tells the stories of family-owned establishments through social media, which has led to thousands of viewers getting an eye on small restaurants.
Roethler has done his own digging when it comes to the foot traffic the World Cup has generated, talking to businesses in midtown and beyond about their experiences.
“There’s so much nuance and gray area to this conversation. I think people are quick to jump and say it’s this or it’s that," Roethler said. “There is a million different factors, and you can list them all out to really make your case.”
Some places haven’t struggled, but not much has changed
To get a better idea of what's happening, Roethler decided to visit three restaurants that are within a mile of one of the hottest places to be at in Kansas City this summer: FIFA Fan Fest.
In a video Roethler shared of him interviewing Grant Naugle, the owner of Tower Tavern, it was nearly a ghost town in the bar aside from the regulars. His bar is roughly a three-minute drive from Fan Fest, and around 25 minutes if you want to walk to the Union Hill bar.
Naugle told Roethler that his best day of business was the June 25 Netherlands and Tunisia game in Kansas City. That would make sense considering tens of thousands of people flooded downtown Kansas City that day to participate in the Orange Walk.
Other businesses Roethler visited include Cliff’s Tap House and Brick House, both residing in Union Hill. He said the same thing applies to those other establishments: They aren’t necessarily struggling, but this life-changing amount of customers is nowhere to be found.
“There are other businesses that are struggling, but they’re not struggling. It’s like it’s no different if the World Cup was here or not,” Roethler said. “They have their regular crowds. They’re not seeing this influx of customers which was projected.”
In May, the Missouri Restaurant Association recommended local businesses to add a 20% automatic gratuity during the World Cup. This was done as an effort to address foreigners possibly not knowing about U.S. tipping culture. Naugle said he had it for one day before removing the auto tip.
He’s not alone on backing from auto gratuity. Restaurants and bars in the Crossroads took away the fee after they were struggling with bringing in new customers amid the World Cup.
“We’re not going to do this. We’re not going to do it to our customers,” Naugle said. “So be it if we get a bunch of foreigners and they don’t tip cause that’s not their culture. I didn’t think it was a great idea to begin with.”
Convenience could also play a factor for business numbers
On the day Lionel Messi scored a hat trick in Kansas City, Roethler was flying into Kansas City through MCI. That’s when he met a fan who was catching the game that day, who told him she was flying out the next morning. He theorizes that this could be the case for many visitors coming to KC.
“I assume that’s a common example. People don’t have the money to make a multiday trip out of hanging out in KC,” he said. “And then you look at the international travelers, most of them are coming over here, and they’re hitting multiple cities. So they will go again in KC, and then they fly out to LA or Dallas.”
Since folks are going to the matches at Kansas City (Arrowhead) Stadium, it would make more sense for them to grab food in that area than other more well-known restaurant districts. But what about the folks who aren’t going to the game?
Roethler suggests that the convenience of where majority of fans are going could play a factor in who is getting business during the World Cup. For example, KC Empanadas, which was previously known as Argentina Inc. Empanada, has been flourishing as a food vendor at Fan Fest.
The owner said that they’re selling 2,000-3,000 empanadas a day at Fan Fest. Considering over 200,000 people have already attended Fan Fest, it makes sense those vendors would thrive during the World Cup.
Many factors can attribute to the World Cup slowdown
In reality, for an event at the magnitude of the World Cup coming to the smallest host city, there are plenty of factors that could go into these World Cup numbers: The automatic gratuity which looks to be a flop for many. The areas folks are visiting across KC. Fans going straight to the game when they come to town. There isn’t a sole blame for the lack of business.
“It’s an event that is almost impossible to get right, because of all those different factors, some of which are uncontrollable and external. Like the economic conditions, inflation, things like that, you just can’t control.” Roethler said. "People are eating out less, people are budgeting more, It’s a wide array of things I would say.”
Obviously, there won’t be another World Cup in Kansas City for a long time. But if something similar to this event were to ever occur again, Roethler believes a bigger focus should be placed on the small businesses and making sure that they thrive during events like the World Cup. Part of that revolves around speaking to business owners and learning their needs during the event.
So many expectations were placed for these businesses, yet not everyone has been feeling the same effect.
“If I had any control over this event, I would be spending every single minute of my day going to talk to every single business owner and see what their needs are,” Roethler said. “I think there’s a lot of planning that is involved with a lot of the big vendors that are bringing in a lot of the money, but I would be focused how can we make sure that the little guy is benefitting from this amazing event.”
