It’s interesting to see how a big game can increase or decrease business dramatically in certain departments. Here at the Haida Way Hotel in Port McNeill we seem to experience major fluctuations in the number of customers we serve in our pub and our adjoining Northern Lights Restaurant. The biggest sport for locals is Hockey. Having said that, we are fortunate to have a local, Willie Mitchel, who plays for our professional hockey team, the Vancouver Canucks. This has made the Canucks games in Port McNeill a bigger event than they already were. What we are noticing now that the Canucks are in the playoffs, and winning, is the increase in business in our Haida Way Pub and decrease in Northern Lights Restaurant.
The pub has several TV’s including a large 50’ and a very large projection TV that covers an entire wall. The restaurant on the other hand has no TV’s. So, it is to be expected the pub would be busier and the restaurant quieter as many locals would be watching the game. However, we really didn’t expect the magnitude of these fluctuations. The restaurant is almost empty during the games and the pub is pretty much full. Luckily, the restaurant started doing deliveries not long ago, and during the games, has made up for much of the decrease in our dining room business.
To summarize, when there is a big sporting event on TV we notice a large increase in our pub business and restaurant deliveries, and a huge decrease in customers who visit our restaurant dining rooms.