Alexandria's experiment with staging an outdoor arts festival in the heart of Old Town produced mixed evaluations from both artisans and business owners. For patrons of the festival, it was a seven-block, one-stop shopping event.
Artisans participating in the festival viewed the city's two-day event a success. For some local businesses on King Street, the opinion was mixed. But clearly the big winner seems to have been the artisans displaying at Alexandria's festival.
Carmine Reppucci from Marietta, Ga., who has exhibited in Howard Allen Events shows before, described his Alexandria experience as "one of the best. Sales were excellent, and the buyers were very knowledgeable about art," he said.
Reppucci also praised Allen for his style of management. "I only wish all the shows I exhibit at could be as controlled as the Allen shows." But he also would make a change in the Alexandria show if it is staged again. "I would prefer it to be in a park setting, rather than in the street setting," he said.
He felt there would be better circulation for the patrons, security could be better maintained, and tear-down would not have to be done immediately after the show's closing. "Many of the shows I participate in that are held in park settings, the sponsors allow us to tear down on Monday morning because it isn't interfering with any other activities," he explained.
"My sales were excellent. This was one of the best, and I do several shows a year throughout the country," said Barbara Cook, Silversmith from Asheville, N.C.
"It was great," said David Gordon of Saratoga Springs, Fla. "This is my first show for Howard. I grew up in Virginia, and I look forward to any opportunity to come back. I always do well in this area." Gordon's art is featured on the cover of the current issue of Metropolitan Home.
William Lathrop, an artisan from Evanville, Wis., found, "The crowd really liked my work. This was the second best show of my season." He also liked being on a hard surface as compared with a park setting, preferred by Reppucci. His rationale was that the support walls of his booth were more rigid on hard surface, although he said he has displayed in both settings.
ONE OF THE rationales for holding the arts festival on King Street was that that location would bring increased patronage to the businesses in the immediate and the adjacent areas. Howard Allen, producer of the festival, had predicted a significant increase to local businesses.
At the Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association's initial meeting announcing the Festival of the Arts, Allen said, "People coming to our shows spend, on average, $30 each on non-show items." He also maintained that his statistics verified a 20- to 25-percent increase in local retail businesses, 25-percent increase for restaurants, and 40-percent increase for hotels.
"As long as it’s coming, profit from it," Allen encouraged those attending that ACVA meeting. Jo Anne Mitchell, ACVA executive director, said, "ACVA has one mission — to promote tourism. We bring them in. It's up to you to get them into your shops."
Some business owners said they felt that the festival's location worked against them or had no impact at all.
"It helped our daytime business. But, then our business practically stopped at 5 p.m. It really hurt our normal Saturday night business," said Matt Ammon, manager, The Fish Market.
Stefan Vasilis, manager at Bullfeathers at 112 King St., agreed. "It did help our day business but hurt us a lot at night because people who normally come in the evening thought they couldn't get to us," he said.
Nicole Landini, manager, Landini Brothers Restaurant, assessed the festival as neither hurting nor helping her usual weekend business. "It was a normal Saturday and Sunday. I really didn't see any impact. However, a lot of our employees were inconvenienced in getting to work and in parking," she said.
In several cases that inaccessibility, or its perception, translated into reservation cancellations for Saturday night dinner. This seemed to apply mainly to potential patrons coming into Old Town unaware of the festival and being stymied on how to get to an eatery in the closed-off blocks.
On the flip side of the assessment was Hassen Pishdad, owner and manager of The Warehouse. To him, "This was the best event ever. We had a great turnout both during the day and for dinner. It even helped our brunch on Sunday."
Manfreddy Lopez, manager at IL Porto Restaurant, also saw an improvement in his business. "We were up somewhat both Saturday and Sunday," he said.
ALLEN AVERAGES approximately 45 such shows per year in venues throughout the nation. Alexandria is the latest addition to his repertoire, which started over 20 years ago in his home state of Florida. Many of the artisans participating in the local show this past weekend hailed from there.
As for Allen's earlier prediction that his shows trigger a 20- to 25-percent increase in local retail business, some merchants along lower King Street maintained they saw little or no increase, while only one said the show actually hurt normal weekend business.
Bryan Egan, manager of Imaginarium, said, "I don't think it had any impact. There was no increase in walk-in traffic, and sales seemed to be rather static in comparison to the same days last weekend."
This same viewpoint was expressed by Khazana Trading Ltd. at the Torpedo Factory and Hats In The Belfry, 112 King St. "It didn't hurt or help us," they both said. The Discovery Channel's Michael Thomas indicated, "I think we may have seen a little increase, particularly on Sunday."
Stanley E. Rudy, owner, Wilfred Rogers, 320 King St., was more adamant. "This type of thing doesn't help us. We usually have a better Saturday than we had this past one. Plus, my employee had to pay a higher parking fee than normal. You just can't win," Rudy said.
There wasn't an appreciable impact on the hotel business as a result of the festival. "We didn't seem to have a lot of people involved with the festival," said Robert Kanady, general manager, Hampton Inn, 1616 King St. "But, this weekend was up somewhat from the same one last year. We did get some of the exhibitors, which helped," he noted.
Philip A. Smith, general manager of Marriott Residence Inn, 1456 Duke St., had the same impression. "We really didn't experience any increase in business because of the festival. It was a normal weekend for us."
The hotel most accessible to the festival was the Holiday Inn Select, 480 King St. "Room-wise, there was no impact whatsoever. It was the same as a regular weekend," said Yusef Hassan, assistant manager. "But our restaurant and bar were packed."
According to Jo Ann Mitchell, executive director of ACVA, "For a first time event, the Alexandria Festival of the Arts was a huge success. Thousands of people flocked to King Street from the Metro down to the water. So many people stopped by the information booth to say, 'Please do this again and again – this is great for Alexandria.'
"With the exception of only one of 121 surveys completed by attendees, all comments were very favorable," said Mitchell. "We received reactions such as, ‘Fabulous, do it again’ ‘First rate artists’, ‘Closing King Street has created a great atmosphere’, along with some good suggestions for next year."
Mitchell said, "We do know that there were a few glitches, but very few considering the enormity of the crowd. Over the next days and weeks we will be getting feedback from our businesses and residents. ACVA and others will use this information to work toward making this an even better event in years to come."
IN MUCH OF the pre-publicity, ACVA had urged people coming to the festival from throughout the region to use Metro. As of Monday morning, Metro verified that use of the King Street station was up only 175 riders from the previous Saturday, for a total of 6,618. Sunday's increase was more pronounced, up 650 over the previous Sunday, for a total of 4,833 utilizing that station.
Much of the close-in, prearranged parking seemed to go unused by festival attendees. None of the garages within the immediate festival location was full at any time Saturday or Sunday, according to attendants. The garage under Market Square was practically vacant most of Sunday, the attendant said.
As for the two satellite lots on Eisenhower Avenue, one at Cameron Run Park and the other at 2121 Eisenhower, DASH transported 160 people on Saturday and 250 on Sunday, according to Sandy Modell, general manager, Alexandria Transit Co. "This was not as many as we carry for the Waterfront Festival or the George Washington Birthday Parade," Modell said.
"However, we did experience a significant increase in DASH About service on both days of the festival. On Saturday, we were up 42 percent, or 450 riders, and Sunday the increase was 191 percent with a jump of 900 riders," Modell said.
"Normally, we average about 400 riders on DASH About this time of year without any events. This past Sunday we carried approximately 1,400 riders," she said. "We have found that many DASH About riders actually get on and off as the bus moves up and down King Street." She also noted, "Both days we saw an increase in ridership for our entire system."
For future planning, Modell suggested, "If they [ACVA] are going to use shuttles next year, the satellite lots should be closer than the one at Cameron Run Park. Try to get them as close as possible to the event, and concentrate on one lot."
Modell recommended the lot across from the Hoffman buildings, which is immediately adjacent to the Eisenhower Metro station.