PNE vendor worried about low turnout
Posted August 19, 2013 5:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Low turnout at the PNE this opening weekend is raising questions about its future.
Bill Konyk from Hunky Bills has been selling perogies at the fair since 1967 but he says on Saturday his business was down 40 per cent from previous years.
He hopes it was only because of other events happening around the province and that this upcoming weekend will be a better indicator.
“If it’s down this year, I think at our meeting everyone has to have an open mind, concessionaires and also PNE executives. Without the PNE we’re nothing and if the concessions aren’t doing well then the PNE doesn’t get good percentage.”
The fair is already not running on Mondays this year because of fewer people turning out in the last few years. Konyk doesn’t think slashing more days is the answer though. He hopes if it comes down to it, they can figure out a different plan.
The PNE’s Laura Ballance says the number of fair-goers picked up in the afternoons over the weekend and overall, she says it’s too early to tell whether attendance will be up or down.
She says people don’t need to start worrying that more days will be cut from the fair next year. “There’s no thought at this point, or even discussion, or reducing original fair days.”
Ballance says it took a long time for them to decide to cut the two Mondays this year. “Closing the first two Mondays of the fair was the result of five years of study and looking at industry best practices.”
The closure of the fair on the first two Mondays has allowed the PNE to cut prices.
Marketing expert Lindsay Merideth says cutting prices isn’t not enough. “One of the problems is price sensitivity. Middle-class taxpayers are really under siege, these guys are really price sensitive. If you have high gate prices, $16.00 a pop, that might really slow down your talent coming through the front door.”
He says it’s a simple concept. “If they’re not going to get in there, they’re not going to spend any money on rides or any of the other concessions. Get your ticket prices down, try to get more people attracted with lower gate prices, then pick up the money in concessions.”
