Yolanda Welch, owner of All Day Hoagies, walked down West Girard Avenue to grab lunch. It was just a couple hours before the start of another World Cup match in Philly, but near the FIFA Fan Festival, Brewerytown’s main drag was nearly empty.
“Normally, I’m not able to do this,” Welch said, as the lunchtime rush usually keeps her too busy to leave her post.
She had free time on Thursday, she said, because the regular midday crowd had thinned ever since the FIFA Fan Festival arrived at Lemon Hill, about a half-mile away.
City officials have estimated that hundreds of thousands of people have flocked to the monthlong World Cup watch party, which started in mid-June and is set to run through mid-July. But last week some Brewerytown business owners said they had yet to reap the benefits.
In nearby Fairmount, some bar managers said they had seen a soccer-fueled boost in business. But several other neighborhood shop owners said they were only breaking even, with the slight increase in tourist traffic offset by a sharp drop in regular customers. Parking restrictions and street closures have kept many locals away, business owners said.
A World Cup let-down for some in Brewerytown
Many Philadelphia business owners said they had high expectations for the World Cup: Some near the Fan Festival stocked up on inventory and even hired extra staff.
“I ordered all kinds of soccer stuff to put in ice cream,” said Welch, who owns the hoagie shop and I Scream for Ice Cream. “I bought a whole [World Cup] banner.”
As of Thursday, Welch said she hadn’t seen enough soccer fans to justify putting out the merchandise or unfurling the banner, which still sat in her car.
Business is down precipitously at All Day Hoagies, which usually goes through 200 rolls a day. Since the World Cup began, the number has dropped to 125 or fewer.
Across the street, AJ Kim, front-of-house manager at Baby’s Kusina + Market, hired two extra employees to run food ahead of the festival.
“We were prepared for a huge crowd,” Kim said. “But it wasn’t much at all.”
Like other business owners, Kim said the temporary parking rules have confused regular customers, and stories of residents being ticketed and towed are scaring many patrons away. According to Kim, a Baby’s chef was among those erroneously ticketed by the Philadelphia Parking Authority, despite displaying the required temporary permits.
Every night, a handful of people cancel their Baby’s reservations, saying they are worried about parking, Kim said. Staff has tried to dispel misinformation on social media, and lends temporary parking passes to diners, but uncertainty remains.
Some spots see steady business
Some businesses are faring better than others, even if they aren’t seeing crowds of soccer fans every day.
Josh Kim, owner of Spot Gourmet Burgers in Brewerytown, said international tourists have made special trips to his restaurant for one thing: American cuisine.
“When people go to Italy, they want pasta and pizza,” Josh Kim said. “When they come to America, they want burgers.”
June 19 was a particularly busy day for him: After the Brazil-Haiti match in South Philly, Spot’s sold 200 burgers in less than an hour, he said.
But no other recent days have been as lucrative, and Josh Kim said he worries it could take a while for regular customers to return to Girard Avenue once the World Cup games — and the restrictions — are over.
“Consumers are habitual,” Josh Kim said. “If [they] break that habit, they no longer think about going to Girard Avenue. … They’ll go up Ridge.”
On Boathouse Row, across the street from the Fan Festival, Cosmic Café and Ciderhouse has seen steady business, manager Sachael Sciarretta said. About 30% of the cafe’s regulars drive there, and he said he hasn’t seen them since the festival began. But business from soccer fans has made up for the loss.
Fairmount bars and restaurants seem to have been among the biggest World Cup winners. On Thursday afternoon at the Black Taxi, an Irish pub a few blocks from the festival, almost every seat was filled — several by customers donning soccer jerseys.
“Foot traffic has been great, and the neighborhood is buzzing,” said manager Neil McKernan, who estimated that sales are up 30%.
In the dining room, the Trainor family enjoyed a meal before walking to the Fan Festival to watch the 4 p.m. match between Curacao and Ivory Coast.
It was the first time that Kelly Trainor, 42, of Glenside, had been to the Fairmount watering hole, and she brought along her three young children.
“We can’t afford tickets to the game,” Trainor said. “So this is the next best thing.”
Back in Brewerytown, where the business corridor was quiet, some owners said they wished they could have been more involved in the festivities. Josh Kim, of Spot Gourmet Burgers, said perhaps organizers could have allowed local restaurateurs to sell from food trucks outside the fan entrance.
“If we were able to activate this corridor, it would have been a lot different,” Kim said.
“Why didn’t they work with the local businesses so we could make the money?” added Welch, of All Day Hoagies. “Because we ain’t making none.”
