12 seconds ago 2009-12-02T22:25:01-08:00
SAVANNAH, Ga. – Only a trickle of tourists are browsing the knickknacks and collectibles in Karl Kriscovich's riverfront shop, where St. Patrick's Day merchandise hangs by the door awaiting buyers he's still not convinced will come.
"People in this economy, they might buy hotel rooms," says Kriscovich, who's owned the store Christmas On The River for 19 years. "But they're not going to have money for their dinners."
Or St. Pat's souvenirs, which Kriscovich has plenty of to sell — ornaments of green glass shamrocks, Irish dancers and medallions inscribed with Gaelic prayers. A shelf holds Santa Claus figures dressed hat-to-toe in green suits, nursing Irish coffees. No matter how grim the economy looks, he's not passing up a chance at St. Patrick's Day sales.
In Savannah, every merchant wants a hand in the pot of gold that typically arrives with St. Patrick's Day. Celebrated here since 1824, this coastal city's sprawling parade and beer-guzzling street party have become its most lucrative tourist attraction, drawing up to 400,000 revelers every March 17.
This year, however, some businesses hoping for a green stimulus from the St. Pat's party Tuesday are seeing dreaded signs of the recession blues.
Hotels used to selling out of rooms before the holiday still have plenty of vacancies. Fewer out-of-town street vendors are seeking permits to peddle plastic beads, T-shirts and other tacky green trinkets along the parade route.
The National Retail Federation, using an annual consumer survey, predicts St. Patrick's Day will be celebrated by 3 million fewer Americans — a 3 percent decline nationwide — compared with 2008. It estimates spending for the holiday will drop nearly 10 percent from last year, a decrease of $350 million.
The DeSoto Hilton hotel, located on the parade route in Savannah's downtown historic district, still had 25 percent of its rooms unfilled for the holiday last week. Normally, its 250 rooms are all booked well before St. Pat's.
"We're seeing softness, there's no way around it," said Rod Musselman, the hotel's general manager. "We need a good St. Patrick's Day week, because business has been off."
Musselman said he expected to still have vacancies by the Tuesday parade — which has never happened in his 13 years as manager.
Tourism is one of Savannah's biggest industries, with 6.6 million visitors spending $1.9 billion here in 2007. Joseph Marinelli, president of the local Convention and Visitors Bureau, says tourism dipped only slightly last year.
But signs of a recession-driven slowdown are already apparent. In a four-week period ending March 7, hotel occupancy was down 10 percent compared to the same period last year. Hotel rates had dipped 14 percent.
Marinelli said he still believes St. Patrick's Day will draw a strong crowd, especially for a Tuesday event. But his office isn't making any crowd predictions this year, as it did in 2007 by predicting 300,000 revelers.
"We do believe a lot of people are going to come," Marinelli said. "The real question is how are their spending habits impacted. People are lining up for trolley tours, but are they still buying T-shirts or pralines and stuff like that?"
Carrie Queen is betting they will. The riverfront store where she works, Shirts N Stuff, is holding a 20-percent-off "stimulus sale." But the discount doesn't apply to its inventory of St. Pat's T-shirts, strands of plastic beads, green feather boas and felt bowler halts.
"We're looking forward to an increase in business," Queen said. "Generally we have a steady, wall-to-wall crowd."
Kenny Hill, director of the Savannah Waterfront Association, said St. Patrick's crowds normally show up in smaller numbers for midweek parades — about 100,000 compared to 400,000 or more on peak weekend celebrations. But merchants on the cobblestone riverfront also anticipate a busy weekend ahead of the holiday with the arrival of the spring tourist season.
Rob Naclerio, manager of the riverfront Cotton Exchange Tavern, isn't skimping on orders of copious amounts of alcohol in anticipation of a slowdown. Every inch of storage behind the bar is crammed with bottles of whiskey, vodka and tequila.
Naclerio will have 35 kegs on hand and more than 2,000 bottles of beer. He says his confidence in a profitable St. Pat's has been bolstered by strong Mardi Gras crowds in New Orleans last month.
"If Mardi Gras did that well, I think people are looking to blow off steam and just want to come out and have a good time," Naclerio said.
Travelers booking last-minute St. Patrick's trips could stumble on some good deals. Gina Stone, owner of Stay Savannah Vacation Rentals, is offering discounts up to 50 percent on condos and rental homes for the holiday.
Normally, all 51 properties Stone manages are all booked at least a month before St. Pat's. Three weeks ago, with sales for the holiday looking sluggish, she slashed rates by 20 percent. She decided last week she needed to cut them even more, with about a third of her rentals still available.
In an unusual twist, Stone said reservations were looking stronger for this weekend than for St. Patrick's Day.
"They're coming to Savannah, but unfortunately they're going to be leaving before the parade," she said. "The weekend certainly saved us. Without this weekend, it wouldn't be a pretty sight."
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Savannah Convention and Visitors Bureau
