Shops’ dreams don’t pan out

By Stephen Smith and Benjamin Gedan, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent  |  July 28, 2004

Boston merchants who anticipated jingling cash registers with the arrival of the Democratic National Convention say the promise has been a bust as an exodus of locals, a boycott of Boston by commuters, and slower-than-expected convention trade have driven down sales at many businesses by more than 50 percent.

In neighborhoods across Boston, business owners criticized leaders and law enforcement authorities for casting a thick security blanket over the city that left workers standing idle on sidewalks, watching streets that were as empty as their shops and restaurants.

From the North End's candlelit trattorias to the high-sheen boutiques of Newbury Street, business was so slack that grousing owners were forced to send workers home early -- even from shops and restaurants that had stocked up in anticipation of brisk convention commerce.

Interviews yesterday with more than two dozen owners and managers of restaurants, clothing stores, and gift shops around town drew responses ranging from disappointment to sharp anger directed at City Hall. The impact was most significant in the North End, where bakeries and restaurants reported that sales were off by more than 50 percent. Along Newbury Street in the Back Bay, shopkeepers said the situation was not as bad, although business was lagging.

Business owners who had supported bringing the convention to Boston said yesterday they felt especially betrayed by the turn of events. They faulted Mayor Thomas M. Menino for agreeing to security measures they thought were too extreme, and the media for hyping the extensive road closures.

"We thought that according to the mayor, business was going to be good around here. But we got absolutely nothing," said Albert Scaperelli, manager of the Euno Ristorante in the North End. "We were so supportive of the city that we even changed our hours to cater the DNC. But we haven't seen one person from the DNC."

Menino, who has staked a chunk of his political legacy on the convention, said at a news conference yesterday that business has been "uneven."

"Some are doing well, some are not doing so well," the mayor said. "I know of some restaurants that are booked solid for five days, other ones aren't."

Responding to a question about upset business owners, Menino said, "I can understand their anger, a little bit."

Some merchants said Menino and the Democrats committed a significant tactical error by locating the convention in the congested neighborhood around the FleetCenter, rather than at the new convention center in South Boston. That location, farther from Interstate 93, would have kept more roads open and would have had virtually no effect on downtown businesses, they said.

Now that the damage has been done, said Joseph Pagliuca, owner of Pagliuca's Ristorante on Parmenter Street, Menino should reimburse North End eateries for their losses.

"It would have been best in South Boston. This way, there's no business," said Pagliuca, who estimated he had lost 90 percent of his usual business since Sunday. "We're standing outside, day and night. The government has power, but how can they make businesses close for a week? We have families to feed."

In the two years since Boston won the right to host the nation's Democrats, shopkeepers had nurtured hopes of a business bonanza, with delegates on shopping binges and flocking into neighborhoods for meals. Instead, with the exception of the Quincy Market area and parts of Beacon Hill, convention-goers have not swept into neighborhoods near the FleetCenter. Locals and commuters, meanwhile, are avoiding downtown Boston this week by the tens of thousands.

The results were on stark display at lunchtime in the North End, when the neighborhood's narrow streets were uncharacteristically bereft of vehicle and pedestrian traffic. In front of Old North Church, a lone couple on the Freedom Trail studied a map. The sidewalks climbing Hull Street to Copp's Hill Burying Ground were empty -- no tourists, no residents.

Business was dismal around the corner at Philip's Total Care Salon on Charter Street. "You're looking at it," stylist Doreen Merola said, gesturing at two customers. Not a single walk-in had come to the salon, which Merola said usually sends a coiffed client out the door every 30 minutes. "It was a total misconception that we would have some kind of business generated by this convention," she said.

On Salem Street, Bova's bakery opened a new streetside sales window this week with a sign to welcome the DNC. By late yesterday afternoon, the window was shuttered. Inside, cannoli -- the bakery's most popular item -- were not selling. Bakers usually refill five trays at least three times a day. "Today, I'll be lucky to fill it once," said Diana Bova, an owner, adding that sales had tumbled 50 percent.

Down the street, Ernesto's Old World Pizza had sold 70 pies by 4:30, down from a daily average of 200. "It's awful, and I'm angry about it," said the owner, Rocco Anciello. "The convention is not benefiting us at all."

At dusk, as candles melted at 14 vacant tables at Strega on Hanover Street, two waiters, a busboy, hostess, chef, and the owner stood on the sidewalk. "This street is usually electric," said owner Nick Varano. "Now, it looks like there's tumbleweeds."

A similar refrain reverberated along Newbury.

"I didn't have any delusions of how it was going to be," said Stefan Bieri, the owner of Teuscher Chocolates of Switzerland. "Last week, all of our regular customers said, 'Bye, bye, I'm going to the Cape.' "

Globe correspondents Emily Anthes, Katie Nelson, Tyrone Richardson, Alonso Soto, and Emma Stickgold contributed to this report.