Lodo businesses embrace Rocktober
Rockies an even bigger hit locally by playing in postseason
With the Colorado Rockies’ dramatic return to the postseason, playing in a National League division series for the first time since 2009, establishment owners in Lodo are raising their glasses — and counting their cash.
The Milwaukee Brewers lead the Rockies 20 in their bestoffive NLDS, but business around Coors Field has been up as the Rockies made a spirited playoff run in September. And as the NLDS shifts to Denver for Game 3 on Sunday, institutions in the area are gearing up for the surge.
“People are pumped,” said Dan Anderson, a bartender at The Refinery on Blake Street. “The Rock ies haven’t been to the playoffs in a long time, so the energy is high. It’s exciting.”
If you’re outside Coors Field on Sunday, you may hear Chris Villiere taking merry fans to the game on his pedicab, pumping jock jams from his bike.
When the Rockies win, so does Villiere. He said he sees a 10 percent to 15 percent bump in pay when the team is doing well.
“People spend their money when they’re happy,” Villiere said. “When people are sad, they don’t really want to give me 20 bucks to drive them around.”
It’s amazing how the wallet just magically opens up when the home team plays spirited baseball.
“People definitely want to have an extra beer after a win,” said Chris Black, the owner of Falling Rock Tap House on Blake Street. “The visiting teams do not party quite as much as the home team after a Rockies win.”
Black is opening his bar an hour earlier than usual on Sunday, at 10 a.m., to get fans ready for the first pitch of Game 3.
Kyle Hesseltine, general manager of the Sports Column bar on Blake Street, said a Rockies post
season run “makes those slow months in January and February a little easier.”
“You don’t budget for this at the beginning of the year,” he said. “So it’s really a bonus.”
Every bar or restaurant owner loves the additional cash that a playoff run brings in — who wouldn’t? — but for Hayter’s & Co. manager Tim Russell, the good vibes are important too.
“Taking the business part off the table for a second, it’s just really cool to see the city rally around this team,” Russell said. “Everyone comes together, and the energy in here is amazing.”
For bars like Hayter’s, being a block from the ballpark adds another element of excitement to big games.
“Listening to this place explode at the same time as the crowd at Coors is pretty cool,” Russell said.
And, he added, there are fewer problems between patrons during big Rockies games because everyone is glued to the TV screens.
Black loves his business and is obsessed with the Rockies. During playoff time, those two get blended together in a winning concoction.
“I’m really looking forward to having some playoff games in Denver,” he said. “2007 (when the Rockies played in the World Series) was an awful lot of fun, an amazing run. We’re expecting a really good crowd on Sunday.”
Daniel Brenner, Special to The Denver Post Painting with a Twist art instructor Mayg Thehuman decorates a store window near Coors Field on Friday. The Colorado Rockies host the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday in Game 3 of their bestoffive NLDS.