Businesses, organizations react to Big E cancellation

July 8, 2020 | Reminder Publishing staff
news@thereminder.com

Local business owners often run food stands and are vendors at the Big E each year. Many of these owners expressed myriad emotions when they heard the announcement that the Big E would not take place in 2020.
Reminder Publishing photo by Payton North

WEST SPRINGFIELD – The Big E announced their cancellation last week on June 29 due to COVID–19, and with that, the hundreds of thousands of visitors that they have each year took to social media to express their disappointment. However, not only are patrons disappointed in the decision to not open up the Eastern States Exposition for the 2020 fair season, but local organizations and business owners who sell their food, drink or goods each year expressed a mixture of emotions toward the decision.

During an earlier interview with Reminder Publishing, Big E President Gene Cassidy emphasized the fair’s economic impact on the region, as it serves as the fifth largest fair in the U.S. and draws 1.6 million people each year.?The result is an economic impact of nearly $750 million, and it significantly contributes to the region’s hospitality industry. Cassidy said, “It is the biggest driver of the economy out here.”

When the cancellation was announced, Cassidy noted that

4-H and Future Farmers of America programs would be negatively affected by the cancellation as well. In Cassidy’s cancelation announcement, he also noted that small businesses and independent entrepreneurs that sold their products, goods and services at the fair each year would also feel the impact of the cancelation.

 In his cancellation announcement, Cassidy cited that “literally hundreds of mom and pop operations, husbands and wives, crafters, concessioners are all depending on the Eastern States for their livelihood.”

“It’s crushing to them, and it’s crushing to me,” he said.

West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt noted at the announcement that though the economic impact of the fair’s closure will be felt regionally, the town had previously developed a plan while putting together their fiscal budget to minimize the impact locally.

 “We’ve had a plan for a downturn in local revenues, we took that into consideration when creating the local budget,” he said. “It will have an impact on the region and local business, but we planned for the impact it will have on our budget already.”

Reminder Publishing reached out to numerous local businesses and organizations that have booths at the Big E each year to not only get their reactions to the cancellation, but also to find out how not attending the Big E this year will affect their business.

Agawam/West Springfield

The cancellation is a mixed blessing for Joanne Locke. She and her husband own 141 Main Street, a restaurant and deli in Agawam, just a mile from the fairgrounds.

“We’re okay with the fact it’s closed this year,” Locke told Reminder Publishing.

 Locke has a booth in the Massachusetts Building and usually does brisk business there, but, she said, business at their main location suffers during that period because of the influx of traffic to the fair.

“We’ve always dealt with the traffic problem,” Locke said. “We’re not going to recoup what we would have made,” but she expects business at the restaurant to be better than it usually is. “You’re always looking for the silver lining,” Locke said.

For those patrons who were looking forward to the business’s fair-style offerings like the Pilgrim Sandwich and the Maple Mac and Cheese, Locke said they are considering putting them on the menu at the restaurant during the two weeks in September that the fair is traditionally open.

“We might bring a little of the Big E to us,” Locke said.

Across the bridge, Christine Pompi, who owns Memo's Restaurant with her husband feels the same way.

“It’s a toss up for us,” Pompi said. She foresees the business losing some customers while gaining others.

“The vendors usually come over for breakfast,” Pompi said, “but we’ll probably get some of our regulars who usually stay away.” Memo’s Restaurant also does catering for entertainment acts, which will not be an option this year.

“We’re always happy to have the Big E, but we have to be healthy,” Pompi acknowledged.

Secretary of the Agawam Lion’s Club, Dick Lanier, expressed sadness at the fair’s cancelation as he said it is the club’s biggest fundraiser each year, but said the cancelation was “not a surprise.” Additionally, he said the Big E was a significant way to remind residents of their presence each year.

“It’s our biggest fundraiser. We’re not going to make up that much money, to make money and keep up our presence,” he said.

He said fundraiser ideas would be the subject of the club’s next board meetings, but members had already been brainstorming some ideas.

 “It’s the subject of our next board meeting, we have to figure out what to do,”?he explained.

Lanier said the club had felt the effects of the coronavirus in other ways as the club had also lost their spot as a food vendor during Agawam’s summer concerts.

Fortunately, he said the club had “squirreled away some money” for difficult times such as this. “We should be able to fund programs for at least a year,” he said.

He noted that the club has received some grants that have helped ease the financial losses slightly.?For more information on the Agawam Lion’s Club or to make a donation visit https://agawamlions.org/.

East Longmeadow

Maureen Basile of Maureen’s Sweet Shoppe in East Longmeadow told Reminder Publishing last year she spent the entire two weeks at the Big E, selling her homemade chocolates and sweets. The result, she said, was a significant uptick in revenue. “We were there for the full fair, and we did probably 25 percent of our yearly revenue,” Basile explained.

In addition to missing out on the additional income the Big E brought in, Basile said she will also not have the influx of customers that usually follows the fair. “We tend to get a lot of customers in the shop after that, so we’ll miss that as well,” she said.

Basile added that she will likely not be able to recoup the lost sales, as “ever since the shutdown business hasn’t been the same.”

“This year is going to be one of those years, we’re going to squeak by,” she said. However, she said while things will be difficult financially, the doors to her business will remain open. “We’re fighting, we’ve come up with some new ways to get revenue, we have a wholesale business,” she said. “It’s just a little tough, we cut back that’s all.”

For those missing her special Big E exclusive treats, Basile said she’d be offering a taste of the Big E in her sweet shoppe. “We did the frozen bananas and chocolate covered strawberries. We’ll be offering those in the shop,” she said. Those missing the sweet treats Basile sold at the Big E can get them at the shop located at 6 Center Square in East Longmeadow.

Additionally, Basile said she’d be offering specials each Friday. “Every Friday, there’ll be some kind of special,” she said. Weekly offerings can be found online at https://maureenssweetshoppe.com or on the shop’s Facebook page. Currently, Basile said she is not shipping chocolate, however, she is able to ship homemade popcorn. Additionally, the shop is open and she is offering curbside pickup.

Reichelt said, “if there is a silver lining” to the fair’s cancellation, it is that construction on the Morgan-Sullivan Bridge will be able to continue over the 15-days the Big E was scheduled to take place. He said had the fair gone on as planned, construction was scheduled to be stopped during the 15-day timeframe.

 “With the decrease in traffic they’ve made some great progress, they’ll already be done a year ahead of time,” he said. “Now they won’t have to stop for 15 days, maybe they’ll shave a month or two off.”

While he couldn’t confirm any additional events, Reichelt said he believed the Big E was seeking to host more events such as the drive-thru Taste of the Big E. The drive-thru event allowed people from around Western Massachusetts to come to the fairgrounds to sample cuisine from food trucks and purchase the fair’s infamous cream puffs. The event generated hours-long traffic on Memorial Avenue for a significant portion of the two days the event was hosted.

Reichelt said Big E organizers “mentioned they wanted to do other things,” and that “last weekend’s turnout shows people are willing to come.” However, he added that the town and the Big E have already been in contact to address future traffic issues that may arise with additional events. “We have already talked to the Big E to say we need to work together to improve traffic more,” he said. “We can’t have Memorial Avenue gridlocked like that.”

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