BUFFALO (WBEN) - After more than 500 days of being closed due to the pandemic, Shea's finally reopened its doors for a one-night concert last Thursday, much to the delight and perhaps the relief of business owners in the theater district who depend on their crowds.
"It was almost weird to have our regular customers from Shea's back," said Peter Eid, the owner of Hearth & Press, a restaurant located directly across from Buffalo's beloved theater venue.
"It's been a year and change of highs and lows, mostly lows," he added.
Shea's welcomes Disney's 'Frozen' in September, with performances opening Friday, September 10.
President Michael Murphy says the economic impact of bringing in major shows to the city is massive for restaurants like Hearth & Press, saying all the businesses enjoy a symbiotic relationship.
"The economic impact on downtown Buffalo is very important," said Murphy. "For example, with 'Frozen,' we're going to have thousands of hotel nights with all the people that are coming in from New York to work on the production. They'll be here for over four weeks just working on the production, and then there will be two weeks of performances, so hotel nights, people eating meals, people buying things from local vendors - all very important to the economy."
Murphy added that the economic impact just from 'Frozen' coming to town will be about $20 million.
"Having Shea's, all of the smaller theaters, and Town Ballroom put their concerts back on, it's a big deal for us because we're constantly trying to cater to that crowd," said Eid. "That was the whole plan of coming down here, knowing that you had this built-in audience. Whenever there's a show, you can reach out and advertise towards that, so when you don't have that you've got to get very creative, and sometimes your creativity doesn't work when you're fighting against a virus and you're fighting against everything else that's going on."
While Eid is happy to have some shows returning, the process of finding employees has not been a smooth one.
"It's been an absolute nightmare," said Eid, adding that he's considered moving toward countertop service to combat the lack of workers. "No employees, can't find them, been looking for them; a lot of interviews set up, but nobody shows up to the interviews. Just a nightmare - I don't know how else to put it."
