BOSTON (CBS) — All is quiet around Fenway Park. The question is, for how long?
As the MLB lockout continues, restaurants, bars, and stores near the ballpark try their best to plan ahead, but it’s difficult when you compare non-game days with the crowds they see during Red Sox home games.
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“I’m a little upset because we’re losing business, we’re going to lose business,” said Fenway Cafe Manager George Kalaitzidies. “It’s a big difference. A big difference. Game days we have 40,000 every day. Now we have a few hundred people. And it’s a big difference.”
“The main thing for us is going to be how many home games might we lose? Those are going to be our busiest days of the year by far,” said Red Sox Team Store Pro Shop Manager Tim Pettit.
“You have to buy things much further in advance. We can’t just react to oh, all of a sudden we get a one week window that we now know there’s games,’” he continued.
Both the MLBPA and MLB launched separate $1 million funds for stadium workers affected by the cancelation of games. Meanwhile, local businesses brace for potential financial impact.
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“Game days are incredible. Probably about 2,000 people pass through the doors. We have a line of an hour wait. On a non-game day, you get the tours which are not being used too often right now,” said Tony Costa, bartender at Cask ‘N Flagon.
Staffing is also a major question for Fenway businesses. Cask ‘N Flagon told WBZ-TV on non-game days they usually have three people working. On game days, that number increases to 50 employees.
“We’re already short-staffed enough and people are coming in to apply and you can’t hire if you don’t have the work for them. And until they come back, no one’s going to have the work,” said Costa.
Still, a sense of hope.
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“The feeling is I think right now still optimistic that we are going to get most of a season if not the entire one,” said Pettit.