The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, November 21, 1988, Image 18

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Page SB/TThe Battallonay, Oec. 1, 1988
Local businesses
enjoy benefits
of A&M football
By Sherri Roberts
Staff Writer
Football season at Texas A&M
is held near and dear to the
hearts of many fans for the es
cape it provides from a routine
schedule of classes and work.
Local merchants, however, wel
come the season for the eco
nomic boost it provides to busi
ness.
“We live for football week
end,” Donnie Anz, La Taqueria
and Deluxe Burgerbar restau-
‘‘If anything, it may stimu
late our sales because Ag
gies are loyal to their
school. ”
— Charles Gentry,
assistant manager of A&M
bookstore
rant owner and manager, said.
“It makes or breaks the semes
ter.”
Anz said sales at the two pop
ular eating establishments in
crease 25 percent on football
weekends. People are ^usually
freer in their spending habits, he
said, with beer, fajitas, and De
luxe burgerbaskets being a few
of the favorite items consumed
by customers.
Breakfast, a meal that many
students prefer to exchange for
an extra hour of sleep, is also a
busier time at the restaurants on
game weekends, he said. The in
creased number of parents and
former students who visit the
area account for the influx of
breakfast customers, he said.
Those who have experienced
the frustration of locating an
unoccupied hotel room within
35 miles of College Station on
game weekends will attest to the
economic impact of football sea
son.
Hilton General Manager
Mark Arnold said a majority of
area hotels have a 100 percent
occupancy level on game week
ends. The playing of less popu
lar teams, however, may account
for more vacancies, he said.
Because the Hilton is a group-
oriented hotel, Arnold said oc
cupancy fluctuated, depending
on the number of conferences,
business functions or other
group events in the area. Foot
ball weekends, however, guar
antee a sold-out situation, he
said.
The influx of visitors in town
pumps up business for local
shops, as well.
Martha Mewis, marketing di
rector at Post Oak Mall, said tra
ffic in the mall increases by
3,000 to 5,000 people on game
weekends.
With the an average of $45
spent by the typical shopper,
Mewis said an increase of 4,500
people to the mall can generate
as much as $202,000 in mall
sales.
■%r
Food and Aggie memorbilia
shops do particularly well dur
ing the season, she said.
To keep sales constant on
away-game weekends, Mewis
said mall administrators try to
schedule a special event at the
mall. This strategy has proven to
be effective, she said, with some
of the mall’s greatest profits be
ing brought in on these week
ends.
Mewis said the mall’s profit-
increases benefit the entire com
munity by increasing the city’s
tax base. This leads to better
parks, better streets and a better
police department, she said.
Charles Gentry, assistant
manager of the Texas A&M
Bookstore, said the store’s gift
department has a 25 percent
sales increase during football
season.
The top-selling items, he said,
are traditional Aggie souvenirs,
such as T-shirts, sweatshirts and
baseball caps.
Gentry said the A&M Cotton
Bowl victories had a tremendous
impact on the store’s sales, refer
ring to them as a shot in the arm
for business.
Recent NCAA penalties had
not affected business negatively,
he said, as recent sales have been
comparable to those of last year.
“If anything, it may stimulate
our sales because Aggies are
loyal to their school,” he said.
Roy Gilbert, associate profes
sor of economics, said the Uni-
‘Jackie Sherrill is horribly
underpaid in terms of
what he’s done.”
— Roy Gilbert,
associate professor of eco
nomics
versity receives economic bene
fits from football season, as well.
“A football program adver
tises the University,” he said.
Telecasts of football games
create a greater exposure for the
University, he said, which stimu
lates the memories and generos
ity of former students.
When a university’s athletic
program improvees, he said,
there is a greater number of ap
plicants to te school, which al
lows it to select the highest-qual-
ity students. This in turn attracts
high-quality faculty, he said,
which benefits the school eco
nomically.
“Jackie Sherrill is horribly un
derpaid in terms of what he’s do
ne,” Gilbert said.