Lions stadium scores well for businesses located nearby
As purple-and-white clad fans thronged to Orlando City Stadium throughout its debut season, J. Henry had a frontrow seat to witness the new venue’s impact on Parramore. He liked what he saw. “I’m 53 years young,” said Henry, of J. Henry’s Barber Shop, which has been at the site since 1991 and now sits across Church Street from the stadium. “I was born and raised in this town, and I’ve never, ever seen the amount of people that the soccer stadium has brought into this community.”
Henry said he’s “meeting a lot of great people” through soccer, some of whom have become customers.
“Every little bit helps, even if it’s just one haircut,” he said.
Henry and other Parramore business owners said they were happy to get extra customers during their first season as neighbors to the stadium, which averaged more
than 25,000 fans for Lions games. The stadium is also home to the Orlando Pride and the lower-tier team Orlando City B.
It remains to be seen if the fans who visited on game days will return to the west-Orlando neighborhood during the offseason, but nearby businesses said they were happy to have the boost, which they expect will only grow in the future.
New businesses also are emerging to target the Orlando City crowd. Next door to J. Henry’s shop, work has begun on Tim’s Place, described in city planning documents as a soccer-themed pop-up bar that will cater to fans before and after games.
Eddie James of Chef Eddie’s, a soul food restaurant in the nearby CityView building, said he did “pretty well” on game days, when he brought in extra staff to help manage the soccer crowds.
Orlando City’s last home game was Oct. 15, but James noted the off-season coincides with the start of the restaurant season, when office holiday parties and snowbirds should help to pick up the slack.
James said he “did not have one issue” with unruly fans, though game-related road closures at times frustrated his regulars. “I got a few concerns from some of the locals, but the ones that [are] really diehard customers, they found a way, you know?”
Charles Frizzell, coowner of Broken Cauldron Brewery & Taproom, which opened last year just west of the stadium and hosted tailgating on game days, said the season was better than he anticipated.
“I just wish we had some playoff games,” he said.
Though soccer is over for now, Frizzell said other events should keep business flowing. Camping World Stadium has two bowl games in December, then Monster Jam, the Citrus Bowl and the NFL Pro Bowl in January, while Orlando City Stadium is hosting the NCAA Women’s College Cup next month.
“We’re hoping as the stadium’s open longer and just as the years go by, there will be more and more,” he said.
The new stadium was billed as a big step in the revitalization of Parramore, a historically black community between Orange Blossom Trail and Interstate 4 that has struggled with poverty and seen its population drop by 65 percent since the 1960s, due in part to a lack of adequate housing.
Businesses that sprung up around the Amway Center when it debuted in 2010 struggled to find footing, but locals say they see signs that Orlando City Stadium’s impact could prove more lasting.
Joe Edwards, a deacon at Shiloh Baptist Church of Orlando, has been managing game-day parking for the Jackson Street church since the Amway Center opened. The church rents out spaces in its parking lot for $20, as well as $30 tailgate spaces in a lot nearby.
The soccer fans, he said, seem “more energetic and enthusiastic” and tend to linger longer than fans heading to the Amway Center.
“We have a chance to interact more with the soccer crowd, because you’re talking about tailgating,” he said. “They’re extremely friendly. They become like an extended family to us, and we love that.”
Wall Street Plaza, the downtown Orlando complex of bars and restaurants, debuted its own popup, dubbed the Yard Bar, across Central Boulevard from the stadium this season. It featured a full bar, food trucks, games and picnic tables and was billed as a place for fans to party before and after Orlando City games.
Paul Emery, the company’s marketing director, said Yard Bar “didn’t quite meet expectations” in its first season, though construction on Central Boulevard made it difficult for fans to access at times.
Emery said there are plans for a more permanent facility on the site, but “wanted to make sure we capitalized on the excitement” of the new stadium. “We definitely … still see the long term benefits of being near Orlando City Stadium, the team and the fans.”
Frizzell bet big on that excitement. Broken Cauldron opened its doors in June 2016, eight months before Orlando City Stadium’s debut.
“Right now, I think, without the soccer stadium and the games and the events at Camping World it would be difficult for us to maintain the current levels of sales that we have with those events, but I do see that changing all the time,” he said.
With UCF’s downtown campus and other projects on the horizon, he said, the city’s west side could become “the Brooklyn of Orlando.”
“The downtown area really only has one way to grow,” he said.