Chicago stepped into the limelight this week as host of the Democratic National Convention, with Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Democratic Party winning praise for hosting an event without serious disruptions. But even though the roughly 50,000 attendees enjoyed raucous nights at the United Center, parties on Navy Pier and perfect sunny days, many downtown business owners said it was a tough week.
“We lost around 60 to 70% of our lunchtime business,” said Brad Alaoui, chief operating officer of Roanoke Hospitality and operator of The Roanoke restaurant at 135 W. Madison St. “The Loop was a real ghost town. It was scary how slow it was.”
City officials said the convention would raise Chicago’s profile and boost downtown businesses, but many employers, worried about congestion and possible disorder stemming from protests, advised workers to stay home during the four-day convention, robbing restaurants and stores of their regular customers.
“For us, it was mostly a bad week,” said Zach Flanzman, chief operating officer of Brown Bag Seafood Co., a fast-casual restaurant with several downtown spots. “Our customers are office workers who are usually here Tuesday through Thursday, and when they’re not, we struggle.”
Brown Bag restaurants in Lincoln Park and Roscoe Village did ring up above-average sales, he added, with many locals strolling over from their at-home offices. But the extra business up north didn’t make up for what happened in the Loop, where revenues were cut in half.
“I do think the amount of panic about protests and that type of thing was overblown, but it wasn’t the city that was telling people to stay home, it was individual businesses,” Flanzman said. “It’s disappointing that even with all these beautiful sunny days, the Loop was so empty. In hindsight, this could have been a strong week if everyone had been in the office.”
Metra commuter trains were also relatively empty during the convention.
“Ridership was definitely lower across the system as many employers allowed work from home during the convention,” according to a Metra spokesperson. “For most of the week, we were at about 35% of pre-pandemic levels versus ridership the week prior which was about 60% of pre-COVID.”
Not all downtown businesses suffered. Hotel owners say the thousands of convention-goers, media and event volunteers helped keep many rooms filled, even if the proceeds did not quite live up to their original forecasts.
“Our overall occupancy was quite strong throughout the week because of the convention, although we probably had stronger numbers than many other hotels,” said Nabil Moubayed, general manager of the InterContinental at 505 N. Michigan Ave. Convention officials had reserved about 80% of the hotel’s 792 rooms.
But even the InterContinental, located on the popular Magnificent Mile near Navy Pier and midway between the West Side’s United Center and the South Side’s McCormick Place Convention Center, which held many DNC events, wasn’t jammed with patrons throughout the four days.
“The only area where we didn’t do as well as we thought was our restaurants and bars, because the conventioneers were at the United Center so late,” Moubayed said. “We stayed open until 2 in the morning, so we got some late rushes but not at the volume we wanted. And, of course, we know a lot of locals stayed away.”
The 223-room Sable at Navy Pier was nearly full, said proprietor Robert Habeeb, the CEO of Maverick Hotels and Restaurants, and other hotel owners told him they saw similar numbers.
“I think everyone is very pleased with the way the week unfolded,” he said. “The weather was absolutely fantastic all week and it certainly showcased the city to the world in a very positive way.”
Habeeb hoped earlier this year that the Democrats would occupy every room at Navy Pier, spilling over into both downtown and neighborhood hotels. But party officials didn’t need all their reserved rooms, so Habeeb began renting those out to the general public, eventually hitting an 85% occupancy rate.
“That’s pretty good,” he said. “It’s not the complete sellout we hoped for, but we’ll take it.”
Many restaurateurs say they will need time to recover from the downtown’s empty week.
“Business has been way down,” said Tamar Mizrahi, partner at Goddess and the Baker, a breakfast and lunch cafe with five locations in the Loop and River North. “We have been very slow, with no one coming downtown and no catering.”
Flanzman said this week’s blow was softened because some building managers, including at Willis Tower, where Brown Bag opened in 2019, told restaurants to expect sparse crowds.
“We weren’t blindsided by this,” he said. “We knew it was going to be really slow, so we staffed accordingly, treating the whole week as if it were a Friday, normally a slow day when we need far fewer workers, instead of a normal Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.”
Some restaurants near the United Center did enjoy profitable weeks. Maxwells Trading at 1516 W. Carroll Ave. in the Kinzie Industrial Corridor, which specializes in food inspired by Chicago’s immigrant communities, closed its doors to the public during the DNC, renting the space instead to Care in Action, a nonprofit that fights for the rights of domestic workers such as house cleaners and nannies. The group held DNC-related events, invited speakers and one night held a convention watch party.
“Chicago has a long and healthy history of protests, but we’ve been in the city long enough to know these things can go sideways, so we decided the best way to navigate this was to find one client,” said Joshua Tilden, who with several partners opened the restaurant last December. “It ended up being a lot of fun.”
The street closures around the United Center still hurt other nearby businesses.
“I talked to some other restaurants in our neighborhood and it didn’t work out well for them,” Tilden said. “Sometimes during big events like this, Chicagoans like to stay in their own neighborhoods.”
Flanzman said he’s not sure if Chicago officials could have done anything differently.
“Ultimately, a convention is supposed to drive economic activity to the city, and in the end, this was a mixed bag,” he said. “But it could have been worse.”
Alaoui is just glad the week is over.
“Now we can put it behind us and move forward,” he said.
Tribune reporter Sarah Freishtat contributed.
