Friday, October 29, 1999
Tall Stacks prices surprised vendors
Some unaware of ticket increase
BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
If the price of food and drinks at Tall Stacks '99 surprised you, take heart in this: It surprised some of the people selling the food and drinks, too.
Six months before Tall Stacks began Oct. 13, the Greater Cincinnati Tall Stacks Commission decided to increase food and drink prices by 20 percent.
So instead of charging 50 cents apiece for the tickets needed to buy food and drinks, Tall Stacks charged 60 cents a ticket and kept the extra dime.
But vendors didn't find out about the change for some time, and Skyline Chili and The Fawn Confectionery were among those that were surprised by it when they got to the event. For both companies, the extra 20 percent resulted in charging customers more than they'd planned.
“Instead of charging $4 for a three-way — which is only a quarter more than in our restaurants — we ended up charging $4.80,” said Tom Allen, Skyline's vice president for marketing. “Customers felt they were being kind of gouged for a lot of things.”
The Greater Cincinnati Tall Stacks Commission, the non-profit organization that puts on the event, has received very few complaints about vending prices from those who attended, said marketing director Karen Bender.
“I think our concession prices would be comparable to when you're in a professional sporting event,” she said.
The group made the decision to raise the food and drink prices to boost revenues for the festival, which lost $800,000 in 1995, the last time it was held. Organizers haven't yet determined whether this year's event broke even.
“This event does a tremendous amount for the Cincinnati community, and it did lose money in 1995,” Ms. Bender said. “And we looked at every possible way to increase revenues and break even or even have a little money left over to seed Tall Stacks 2003.”
Mr. Allen said Skyline lost money at Tall Stacks and won't participate next time if the economic conditions are the same. But Mr. Allen argues the larger issue is the cost of putting on such a massive, one-of-a-kind event.
“I'm concerned for the Tall Stacks Commission where they would have to be so aggressive with the vendors,” he said. “I love the event. I just hope they'll sort out a way that the vendors can feel good about participating.”
Tall Stacks is concerned, too, Ms. Bender said. Most people don't realize the commission is a non-profit group that relies on donations and volunteers, she said.
“Literally our biggest challenge is raising sponsorship dollars and in-kind contributions,” she said. “We did see some improvements. Could we use more? Absolutely. There's still room for improvement.”
Like Skyline, Cafe Cin-Cin lost money at Tall Stacks, said Henry Warman, the downtown restaurant's owner and head chef. Mr. Warman said the extra dime a ticket surprised him, too, and hurt his business.
“There was overcharging of the customer,” he said. “People shopped around to save pennies.”
In addition, Mr. Warman's booth was in a bad location on the far eastern end of the site near just two other booths — Arloi Dee, a downtown Thai restaurant, and a Mediterranean cuisine booth operated by out-of-town vendors.
Arloi Dee chef Mali Lumsum blamed the location more than the ticket prices for the fact that she lost money. But Arloi Dee also expected the ticket prices to be 50 cents each.
The Fawn Confectionery made money at Tall Stacks, but co-owner Kathy Guenther said she suspects that's partly because her company paid less than Skyline and other big vendors to participate.
“Our candy looked outrageous compared to in our stores,” said Ms. Guenther. “But after we settled down, I would explain to people, "Are you enjoying the event?' When they would say yes, I would say, "In order for it to be here, they have to break even. So you have to pay a little bit more.'”
While some customers said they would just buy the candy at the store, most were understanding, Ms. Guenther said.
“A majority of people bought and didn't think anything of it,” she said. “There were times I thought I was robbing them. If someone was a ticket short, I would give it to them.”
Montgomery Inn was among vendors that weren't surprised by the pricing and didn't feel its effects, said vice president Evan Andrews.
“The event was well planned. The event was well attended,” he said. “Whenever people can try your product and be exposed to your product, it's always profitable.”
Tall Stacks prices surprised vendors
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