Fair’s a hit or miss with local businesses

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- Don’t assume increased tourism is always good for local

business.

Although the Orange County Fair attracted record numbers of people to

the city, it was a mixed blessing for many local businesses. While it

brings in tourism, it also takes business away from local shops and

restaurants whose regular customers are too busy riding the Tilt-O-Whirl

and eating cotton candy.

John Ursini, owner of the Newport Rib Co. at 2196 Harbor Blvd., said

his business was hit hardest during the first weekend of the fair.

Business dropped about 10% throughout the first week, he said. Costa Mesa

residents decided to take their families to eat at the fair instead of

their normal weekend spots, Ursini said.

“This year, it seemed like the food became the whole emphasis of the

fair,” he explained. “People were enticed to eat at the fair rather than

at local restaurants.”

But Ursini couldn’t blame them.

“I went to the fair, and I ate the food,” he said.

In addition to food, the fair provided an alternative spot for family

entertainment and consequently drained business from local amusement

sites.

Officials at the Chuck E. Cheese’s at 2300 Harbor Blvd. said they were

more than glad to watch the large trucks haul away the remnants of a

once-towering Ferris wheel. Already experiencing a slow summer because of

the beautiful weather, manager Erika Torres said it’s hard to market an

indoor entertainment venue when there are so many activities that can be

done outdoors. The fair didn’t help business at all, she said.

“When the fair’s in town, parents would much rather take their kids

there than be inside here,” she said.

Torres is thankful that the fair is gone and expects business to pick

up over the weekend, she said.

On the flip side, businesses such as The Feed Barn and Best Western

Newport Mesa Inn, both on Newport Boulevard, benefited from the high

number of fairgoers.

Feed Barn Manager Jenny Inglestad said the fair provides the store’s

biggest account for the month. In addition to the bulks of feed and straw

that they sell to the petting zoo, many 4-H and Future Farmers of America

-- who show their livestock animals at the fair -- shop at The Feed Barn,

she said.

“We gain a lot from the out-of-towners because there is nowhere else

around to buy supplies from. If the kids forget shampoo or other supplies

for their animals, they come here,” Inglestad said.

While the featured 4-H and Future Farmers of America animals received

lodging at the fair, their out-of-town owners needed somewhere to rest

their heads. Best Western Newport Mesa Inn officials said business

increased dramatically during the fair, in part because of the same

out-of-towners who shopped at the Feed Barn and also because of the many

carnival workers.

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 lolita.harper@latimes.comf7 .