February is usually a quiet month for businesses, restaurants and hotels in Moose Jaw, but the Scotties Tournament of Hearts proved to be an economic blessing for the community.
For 10 days, nearly 60,000 curling fans from across Canada came to watch Canada’s finest female curlers battle for a national title. Parking spots were nearly impossible to find around Mosaic Place, while there were more people walking the streets during an unusually balmy and sunny month.
Those 59,298 fans, along with the curlers, coaches, officials, media and TV crews, needed places to eat and sleep, amenities that Moose Jaw provided in spades; restaurants were normally fully, while there was barely a hotel room to be found.
According to Curling Canada, the community could have experienced an economic injection of $6 million to $10 million. Scotties’ co-chair Heather Eby thought that the tournament could have generated a minimum of $8 million.
“I was told by one local business that the the business community in Moose Jaw really needed this right now and (so) they’re feeling encouraged again,” she added.
Statistics from the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance show Curling Canada booked 1,500 room nights for the 16 teams, its staff, and officials. This does not include the rooms booked for fans.
The Moose Jaw Express spoke with several members of the business community to gauge how positive the Scotties were on their bottom line.
Chamber of commerce
It’s awesome to think that up to $10 million could have been injected into the economy, said Rob Clark, CEO of the Moose Jaw & District Chamber of Commerce. The additional money will allow businesses to purchase summer inventory earlier and hire earlier too.
Not only do businesses benefit, but so do the employees, especially those who work at Mosaic Place, he continued. Normally they might work part-time at the Warriors’ games. However, after working 10 days full-time, they likely took home a big paycheque.
The fact TSN showed different parts of the community on national TV probably had another positive effect, especially with marketing and awareness.
“I don’t know that you could put a number on that,” Clark said. “That would be pretty massive as well.”
The community engagement was reflected in the many businesses that decorated their windows, something Clark couldn’t recall seeing as much of in 2015. This year 16 restaurants were also the host locations for each of the teams, some of whom visited and engaged with fans.
“Overall, it was an amazing success,” Clark added. “Everything seemed to go right. It was a great event and the community should be proud of (itself).”
Toilet paper style
Cranberry Collective, a shop that’s been open for nine months, took second place in a contest among businesses to see which could decorate their frontage the best. Owner Christine Keck decorated a mannequin using 12 rolls of toilet paper, something many customers enjoyed seeing.
Keck received inspiration from her aunt, who is a big curler and curling fan. It took Keck a few hours to put together the design.
“It was a fun window display,” she said.
The Scotties also helped the business financially, since the past two months have been “crappy,” Keck added. It was nice to have an event bring so many people to town.
Going underground
The Tunnels of Moose Jaw was noticeably busier during the Scotties, with a steady volume of mostly out-of-town visitors taking tours, said creative director Kelly Carty. The business usually sees an increase in customers whenever a big event or tournaments occurs at Mosaic Place, since there are gaps between games.
Because of how busy the tunnels were, to Carty, every day felt like a Saturday instead of a weekday.
Whole lotta Rosie
Restaurant Rosie’s on River Street is straight down the block from Mosaic Place, which means the Scotties had an awesome economic effect on the business, said owner Zach Schutte. He and others expected they would be full every day; they were not disappointed.
Rosie’s hired more staff — they were early summer hires — to meet the expected demand, while it also stayed open later and opened earlier on Sundays to catch the initial rush.
“February in this industry is normally a quiet time all around Moose Jaw, so having the Scotties is definitely a big increase in revenue for us … It was great to be part of that,” added Schutte.
No Nit-picking here
Nit’s Thai Food was busy during the entire tournament, so the economic infusion was definitely welcomed, said co-owner Ning Yuchalern. It was easy to tell when the games were on since there were more people on the street.
“Just brace ourselves and gettin’ ready,” he said.
The restaurant saw double the amount of traffic it normally receives, Yuchalern added. The building was full for lunch and supper during the event when it’s normally quiet. Even curling superfan Hans Madsen from Yorkton stopped in for food.
Brandon Richardson, owner of Déjà Vu, agreed that the Scotties were great for business. The biggest change for the business was it opened on the Family Day holiday — it’s normally closed on stat holidays — after receiving so many inquiries from customers.
“We decided at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday that we’d open with little to no advanced (advertising) … ,” he added. “It was an amazing day.”
Finding the perfect gift
The Perfect Find saw its business quadruple compared to last February, said co-owner Tracey Marta.
“I think it’s fabulous,” she laughed, adding she would love to see a major event happen every month in Moose Jaw.
