Study: MIM pumps $88M into economy

901-529-2373

The Memphis in May International Festival delivered $88 million in economic impact this year, according to an analysis made public Wednesday.

That figure is up 15 percent from the festival’s economic impact as determined by a similar study five years ago, but the increase is no surprise to Wayne Tabor, general manager of the Holiday Inn Downtown at 160 Union Ave.

“I tell you, I sell out every Music Fest weekend, I sell out every barbecue week,” said Tabor, referring to Memphis in May’s signature events, the Beale Street Music Festival and the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest.

“May is one of the busiest months we’ve got in our industry,” said Tabor, who also is president of the Memphis Hotel Lodging Association, which represents about 70 name-brand and major hotels. He said “year in and year out,” the weekend of the music festival is “the highest-demand weekend in the Downtown market,” with most of the 2,800 rooms selling out.

The Memphis in May economic impact study was produced by Sharon Younger of Younger Associates. A study prepared in 2011 by the University of Memphis Sparks Bureau of Business and Economic Research found that year’s festival generated $76.5 million.

Memphis in May in 2016 also supported 1,138 “total local jobs (direct and indirect),” according to a highlight sheet provided to the media. That’s up from 939 jobs reported in 2011.

Younger, president of the research firm, said Memphis in May conducted “large-scale surveys at each of their major events,” and these surveys were loaded with information from visitors and vendors about spending patterns, places visited in Memphis, place of origin, and so on.

“My job is to be completely objective and stick to the data and the facts,” she said. “If they’re based on good, solid, detailed data, those are going to be your best analyses. Having never worked with (Memphis in May) before, I was very pleased that when we got into their data, it was so detailed. I did not have any preconceived notions going in, and had not looked at any previous studies.”

John Gnuschke, an economics professor at the University of Memphis, said economic impact studies are a significant tool in enabling organizations “to make their case for their importance to the city.”

He said skepticism about such studies is unwarranted, assuming “their numbers are good.”

A prime driver of Memphis in May’s economic impact are the more than 93,000 out-of-town visitors who attended events, particularly the Beale Street Music Festival, which drew 52,771 guests from more than 50 miles away from the greater Memphis area. They spent almost $21 million and created more than $39 million in economic impact. The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest drew 37,146 out-of-market visitors who spent almost $17 million and created more than $31 million in economic impact.

Most of that impact from out-of-towners went toward accommodations, but retail, food service and gas stations also received multimillion-dollar spending impacts from the festival. An estimated 265,000 people attended Memphis in May events.

Ruth Barnes and her fellow “Southern Junkers” will bring their vintage treasures to Overton Square on Saturday and Sunday. Over 65 vendors from across the country will be joining forces to bring, as Barnes calls it, “The best in vintage, farmhouse, upcycled, repurposed and just plain cool junk” to this show-and-sell showcase.

This Southern Junkers Vintage Market will be the second time the event has been held in Midtown. Originally, the event began in Eads, at Top Dog Trade Center, with 30 vendors.

“With each successive market (one market in the spring and one market in the fall), the Southern Junkers Market has grown by leaps and bounds,” said Barnes. “I started a Facebook page in 2010 as a way to gather together likeminded individuals who liked to repurpose items. Most of us share our finds from estate sales and yard sales, as well as curbsides and, as we call them, the city’s finest dumpsters.”

The Southern Junkers market has also expanded in terms of location, with a winter or holiday market held at The Agricenter in December (this year’s will be held Dec. 2-3). But in the case of all of the Southern Junkers markets, each vendor must present “vintage” items in their booth design.

“For me, vintage means an item that was favored or popular during another era,” said Barnes. “Technically, it is a term used to date items that are between 50 and 100 years old. When an item is more than 100 years old, it is referred to as an ‘antique.’ This market is going to showcase a wide range of curated items that will include actual antiques, vintage finds and collectable items. The big difference between this market and most others, is that the majority of items that will be presented for sale