John Boyle

ASH

For decades, local businesses had a love-hate relationship with Bele Chere, the massive three-day street festival that dominated the last weekend of July.

Some loved to hate the event. Some outright hated it. A few loved it, mainly because of the boost in business.

Put Larry Stephenson, manager of New Bluebird Taxi, which operates four taxi companies in Asheville, strictly in the "loved it" category. He said Bele Chere essentially doubled their business, as partygoers opted for a safe ride home after imbibing.

"That was one of our high points of the year," he said. "You couldn't answer the phones fast enough. We'd have to get two dispatchers on for the whole weekend — that's how busy it was."

A report the city of Asheville commissioned last year found the 2013 festival generated $32.3 million in direct economic spending in Buncombe County. That included $7.7 million in direct spending by Buncombe County residents and $24.4 million from nonresidents.

The study and survey, conducted by Looking Glass Strategic Research Consultants, found that the overall "average trip spending per person" for the festival was $204, with nonresidents dropping almost $301 each, and Buncombe residents shelling out $102.

But some downtown businesses did not see any of that economic love.

Richard Sims, owner of Sims Futon Gallery, said they learned in the early '90s, when their location was on Patton Avenue in the heart of closed-street Bele Chere territory, what revelers were interested in.

"People wanting to use the restroom," he said with a laugh. "We would get some sales down the road from the exposure, but it wasn't that much."

Their answer was to simply close for Bele Chere weekend. Last year they moved a block west, not because of the festival but for a better location.

Still, Sims has no fond memories of Bele Chere, economically at least.

"It actually really hurt our business, because the weekends are our busiest time," Sims said. "The festival used to be better. The last year I went, the changes they made — the big stage where you had to pay to get in — it changed the whole atmosphere. So I'm not going to miss it at all. It got to the point where it wasn't enjoyable."

'It packed it'

Jimi Rentz, owner of Barley's Taproom on Biltmore Avenue, falls into the "love-hate" camp.

"I love that it brought all those people to town, and I loved the amount of business it brought us," Rentz said. "But we also closed the following Monday, just to do repairs. With those big crowds comes a lot of use of the facilities. And my staff, they were exhausted."

He estimated Bele Chere gave his business "at least a 50 percent" boost compared to other summer weekends.

"It packed it," Rentz said, adding that Barley's occupancy capacity is 297 people. "We were counting people in, counting people out."

The Looking Glass study found retail businesses saw the biggest boost from festival-goers' spending, with a total of $13.6 million spent. Dining came in second, though, with $11.5 million.

Rentz doesn't lament the passing of the festival, though, believing it served its initial purpose of promoting downtown and giving business pioneers a lift. If the city considers another festival, he hopes they push something in the River Arts District.

In his opinion, downtown is thriving with or without Bele Chere.

"We're having one of our biggest years ever," Rentz said. "Part of it is we're a foodie town now, and beer tourism has exploded. It's come a long way from when it used to be us, Hot Dog King and Blue Moon Bakery."

Hotels move on

The Looking Glass report found the festival was an obvious draw for out-of-towners and a boon to hotels.

It stated the festival generated a total of 18,000 hotel room nights, or stays, at an average daily rate of $150.39, which is higher than the average daily rate for Buncombe County. That alone translates to $2.7 million, and that higher room rate indicates visitors stayed in higher-end hotels.

The study's survey found roughly two-thirds of nonresident attendees would not have come to Asheville if the festival were not occurring.

"From a long-term perspective, almost 90 percent of nonresident attendees would come to Bele Chere next year if it were to be conducted in a similar fashion," the report stated.

It also found 84 percent of nonresident attendees were more likely to visit Asheville at a different time of year as a result of their experience at Bele Chere.

But some hoteliers say they're doing OK without the festival, mainly because the revitalized downtown thrives all summer.

Susan Newton, director of sales at the 115-room Indigo Hotel on the edge of downtown on Haywood Street, said she's been "stunned" by the hordes of people on downtown streets even on weeknights.

"Our occupancy rates are stellar, so we won't notice any blip from (Bele Chere's absence)," Newton said. "Hotels right in the thick of it probably took a hit from party-goers who were looking for a place to stay, but we didn't get that anyway. We're pretty full this week already."

July and October are the two busiest months for visitation and hotel occupancy in the Asheville area, according to Marla Tambellini, assistant vice president at the Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau.

"So it's really difficult to tease out the Bele Chere impacts from the visitation that occurs just from it just being a strong summer season weekend anyway," Tambellini said. "We'll have a better measure of that when get the hotel occupancy reports following that weekend."

At the Renaissance Hotel in the heart of downtown, General Manager Herman Turk said Bele Chere's absence this year has caused his business to tweak its strategy. They've booked several wedding groups at the end of July, where they wouldn't have done that in the past.

"We've just changed the business mix to reflect that we don't have that demand driver with Bele Chere," Turk said. "But we will be sold out this weekend."

No way to replace it

Some business owners have no way to replace the revenue stream from Bele Chere, though.

"We're waiting for someone in the city area to come up with something to replace it," said Jackie Fontaine, owner of Paris Festival in Leicester, a French bakery that won first place in Bele Chere's food category for 17 years in a row. "If they have something to replace it, we definitely will do it. We have not found anything to replace it yet."

They will bring their pastries and other wares to Hendersonville's Apple Festival over Labor Day weekend, and they operate a vineyard in Leicester where they host weddings. But she laments the lost business of Bele Chere, as well as the community camaraderie it engendered and the chance to reconnect with old friends.

"We're hoping to do a big wedding to pay what Bele Chere paid, but I'm thinking we'll never replace Bele Chere," Fontaine said.

Bele Chere spending, 2013

Lodging, $2.7 million

Dining, $11.5M

Transportation, $2.1M

Retail, $13.6M

Entertainment, $1.3M

Other, $1M

Total, $32.3M

Source: Looking Glass Strategic Research Consultants, "35th Annual Bele Chere Festival, July 26-28, 2013"