Football fever has come and gone (well done boys! Amazing performances out there, and Congratulations to Spain!)...
Wimbledon has reached semi-final/quarter final stages, finals are just around the corner. Which means, the games are almost here!
What does this mean to you?
In a personal level, the games will be an amazing experience. As the torch passes from town to town the flame of expectation gets more and more contagious and soon enough everybody will be in a pool of sport, support and fun. If you are in areas surrounding host venues, this escalates to a buzz that flows through the streets right into you, whether you want to or not! Outside of this circle everybody will receive bits of the tidal wave of excitement. Undoubtedly, everybody will be touched!
But... what about businesses? In order to understand better what it means to businesses and what it could mean to you, I set out to ask three Vancouverites (Andrew, Elizabeth and Yols), about their experience during the last games (Winter Games in Vancouver 2010) I asked them a few questions hoping to get to the core of their experience:
Interview of experiences during the Winter Olympic Games, Vancouver 2010:
What role did you play/what were you doing during the Winter Games?
Yols: "Me and my partner, Elizabeth, were directly involved in running and operating a couple of small businesses. One was located in a hospital area and the other in a high traffic, tourist part of the city.
Andrew: I in charge of one of the Olympic shops within a major department store (part of a large organisation)."
What kind of small businesses were they?
Elizabeth: "Food. High quality international food, drinks and shop."
For the small businesses, how were you affected by the games?
Elizabeth"One of our shops/restaurants was located outside of the main areas. We actually saw no change at all. If anything, we saw less people coming in as they were going elsewhere.
As for the one shop/restaurant that was more centrally located (but not quite downtown), we did see an increase in sales.
This increase, how significant was it? Did it meet your expectations?
Yols: "Originally when you hear that these events are coming to your town you think that there is going to be a huge increase of sales. You are told by the media and government that this is an amazing opportunity for all businesses and that you will benefit from it directly".
Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Although we did see an increase in sales, we did not see as much as the media predicted.
Elizabeth: "But to be honest we were ready for this, we knew that in Venues and selected viewing areas, only sponsors can be represented, and people are quite lazy! Which means, if it's not within their walking path, they will not even cross the street!"
Yols: "So with all this in mind, we got ready. We got ready to expect more than normal but not nearly as much as the media set it out to be!"
Do you think this will be the case for the London games?
Elizabeth: "Somewhat but not really. I think that London is going to be very different. This city is crazy and very busy during summer months. The games will only make it even busier. There's also so many boroughs in London that it will be more spread out. Vancouver is more centralised, there's a downtown area and everything else seems way out of reach (even if it's only 15 minutes away!) Even worse for Whistler... very small and centralised".
What about other venues outside of London, what are your thoughts on them?
Yols: "They will be busy, but not nearly as much as London. When people visit England they seem to concentrate on London. Always. Unless they are Shakespeare, Beatles or Football fans! But mostly they stay in London, I think they will go see an event and go back to London as soon as they can".
And for you, how was it being part of the organisation in charge of the official shop?
Andrew: "It was an incredible experience. It was incredibly busy, and not that much for visitors, the store was located outside the downtown area. In the time leading up to the games merchandise was selling incredibly fast. The company to be fair, could have had more product ready! We sold out of quite a few things".
Any words of advice?
Andrew: "I think the three of us will really agree on just one thing... Be ready! Think, plan and don't wait until the last minute".
Yols: "Definitely. Have a little bit more stock than you think you need!"
Andrew: "Absolutely. Fortunately Bubble Tea is not a themed product. It is not branded with games logos or anything like that, which means that if you have stock left over after the games you don't have to run crazy sales! Also, expiry dates on most products will be okay into September or much later, so take advantage of this! Some other industries don't have this luxury!"
Elizabeth: "And don't forget to take into consideration deliveries. It will be a nightmare trying to get anywhere! Order well in advance and order enough to last you until the end of August! That's really my advice."
Many thanks to you Andrew, Yols and Elizabeth, your interviews will definitely be helpful to us!
Andrew: "Good luck to you all! And don't forget to have lots of fun, enjoy it you may never see this event in your hometown again!"
Interview Highlights of Advice:
- Plan ahead.
- Don't be disappointed and order enough to last you until the end of August.
- Expect the unexpected but don't expect too much, specially if you are outside venue areas.
ORDER BY 20 JULY!
*expect disruptions 24 July - 14 August
*some additional charges may apply to deliveries
*next day delivery will not be available
*check your local council for closures/loading times as these may need to take place either very early or very late.
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