Businesses surge during Little 500 week

Many Bloomington businesses boom during Little 500 weekend – but the marked increase in sales does not come without its costs.

Denny’s general manager Richard Frank said that every year he sees an increase in sales close to 30 percent at his restaurant, but the increase has come with its share of problems.

Two years ago, Frank said, a person pulled into his parking lot at 4 a.m.  on the day of the men’s race and threw a party. The party lasted over an hour  and filled Denny’s parking lot with people and cars.

“My security couldn’t handle all the people,” Frank said. “I had to call the Bloomington police to come shut down everything down.”

Frank said that the party had originally been at a house, but the police broke up the party for disorderly conduct.

Over the eight years Frank has managed the 17th Street Denny’s, he has seen many cases of out of control people around Little 500.

He said he has had his fair share of public indecency, broken tables and people becoming belligerent.

“I have the Bloomington police on speed dial when something comes up,” Frank said. “I have to protect my staff and my establishment.”

Frank said that this year was pretty calm in comparison to most years and attributes that to various regulations that have been implemented since he started working. Frank has increased security around the diner, cut traffic to one lane and put strict capacity regulations to keep the large crowds to a minimum.

Despite the disturbances, Frank keeps a positive attitude about his job.

“It’s just life in a college town,” Frank said. “I’m sure you’d see the same thing at Purdue or anywhere else. Ninety-five percent of the time it’s fun, but every once in a while you’ll get a jerk.”

President of Big Red Liquor Wade Shanower said his company opens for extended hours in the morning the week of Little 500, but it is not worth the potential problems to extend hours into the night.

“If they are coming in at two in the morning there’s a higher probability they’re intoxicated,” Shenower said. “It’s not worth the few additional dollars to stay open.”

Shanower said Little 500 is their busiest time of the year and all their staff is required to work during it.

“You have a never-ending line of customers,” he said. “If you’re a beer guy, it’s a lot of heavy lifting; you may need to lift 100 kegs in your shift.”

Shanower said this year they saw a 70 percent increase in sales from an average weekend and a six percent increase from last year.

Manager of the Circle K on 17th Street, Jason Gram, said his store hasn’t had any major horror stories during the years, but does see sales triple every Little 500 weekend.

“From Friday morning, and sometimes Thursday night, it’s jam-packed full of people until everyone’s gone Sunday,” Gram said.

Gram said he usually orders all of their stock in surplus a week in advance and staffs
accordingly.

Now that the Little 500 storm has passed, Gram said he can enjoy a normal work week.

“I’m just glad when it’s all over every year,” Gram said, laughing.