Foxboro Businesses Split On Potential NFL Lock Out
FOXBORO (CBS) -- "No one in the neighborhood wants to see a lock-out." That's from the manager of Palumbo's Liquors on Route One, just down the street from Gillette Stadium.
"It will impact the area...restaurants, hotels, everybody," says Fran Kinahan.
And perhaps no one will be more adversely affected than the town of Foxboro which gets about $1 million a year from Patriot ticket sales.
"It will be hard," says the town's Financial Director Randy Scollins, "but we've budgeted for it. The revenue from the Patriots is put into the capital expenditures, not the annual operating budget. So while it will hurt, the town will still function."
WBZ-TV's Bill Shields reports.
At Chickie Flynn's, a new restaurant just south of the stadium, the owners spent eight months renovating the place and had a good first year, especially when the weather turned cold.
"When it's warm, we don't do much business from the fans, because they stay outside and tailgate," says co-owner Christine Kelly. Her husband Jim says, "But when it turns cold, our place is packed, so we'll feel it if there aren't any games."
But ironically, there are some who would actually benefit from an empty stadium -- the retail shops. Football fans seldom come to Route One on game day and shop.
"We're all about families," says Bob Pope of the Bass Pro Shops, "and they go to the games, then go home. If there are no games on Sunday, there's no traffic, and we might actually see business pick up... although we love the Patriots."
