STURGIS — When the motorcycles roll in, so does the money.
Temporary vendors throughout the Black Hills reported more than
$18.5 million in sales during the Sturgis motorcycle rally’s 70th
anniversary in 2010, according to the state Department of Revenue,
a figure that does not even take into consideration businesses in
permanent locations.
But it is more than just the big-name campgrounds, concert venues
and out-of-state vendors in tents lining Main and Lazelle streets
that benefit from the hundreds of thousands of motorcycle
enthusiasts who descend on Sturgis every August.
Even in a slow year, as was predicted for 2011, local business
owners and officials said the rally also provides a boost for many
year-round businesses, hundreds of homeowners who pack up and rent
out their houses and local residents in search of lucrative,
temporary work.
“It’s a freaking good hit,” said Mike Kahler, owner of the Sturgis
Coffee Co. “It’s a good shot in the arm.”
On Junction Avenue, Flowers by Rose fills a niche market during the
rally — while many of its regular customers assume they are closed
for the week, manager Kandi Cermak is busy selling bouquets and
boutonnieres to spur-of-the-moment brides and grooms.
Last year, they did 55 weddings during rally week, none of which
they knew about in advance. They even ran a special — $45 for a
ready-made rose bouquet and matching boutonniere.
“We do a lot of weddings — the people just on a whim,” said Cermak,
who manages the shop owned by her mother, Kim Paramo.
Like the floral shop, Wheeler Farms Candy on Lazelle Street does
not rely on rally business to make ends meet, but owner Charlie
Wheeler said with the economy the way it is, he will be thankful
for a strong week this year.
His business focuses on products from South Dakota, including the
pecan brittle his family has been making for decades. During the
rally, he said, he sells a lot of South Dakota-made lip balm and
body products.
“For that week, it is the only business we have. The locals don’t
come out during that time. For that week, it’s really important,”
Wheeler said.
The Knuckle Saloon, one of the few big bars to stay open
year-round, though, depends on the revenue generated from rally
traffic to keep its doors open through the winter, general manager
and part-owner Bryan Carter said.
In 12 days, the locally owned bar tallies about 45 percent of its
gross sales for the entire year, he said.
“Without the summer tourists and the motorcycle rally, we wouldn’t
be in business,” Carter said.
During the off-season, the bar employs 30 to 40 people; during the
rally, that number jumps to 150. The majority of the temporary
employees are local residents working as cooks, security and
bartender assistants.
“The local residents of Sturgis, a lot of them take vacation time
off their jobs and work the rally. They’re getting paid on their
vacation time as well as working their job,” Carter said. “In turn,
that money goes back into the economy.”
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Owners of year-round businesses said the rally is also a great
way to get their name out to area and out-of-state residents
alike.
Kahler, of the Sturgis Coffee Co., said he sees a lot of the same
clientele every year during rally week. On his website are a
handful of testimonials from customers who stumbled upon his shop
during their visit and liked the coffee so much they planned to
order more online.
“It’s kind of like a family reunion when the rally comes back,”
Kahler said. “It’s fun. I enjoy it. It’s a lot of work, but it’s
good to break up the year with a crazy event like that.”
It isn’t just local businesses that benefit from the motorcycle
cycle rally.
A week before the rally, the official event website listed more
than 130 private homes available for rent in and around Sturgis,
and there were hundreds more on Craigslist.
There are no good numbers on how many people rent out their homes
during rally week, but for those who do, it is a lucrative
business, said Bill Phillips, one of the owners of the Real Estate
Center of Sturgis, which handles 15 to 20 rally rentals a
year.
As a rule of thumb, he said he tells people that they can expect to
get $1,000 per bedroom per week — and more if they have luxury
amenities such as a pool table or hot tub.
“A lot of people, especially in Sturgis itself — I don’t know if
they necessarily come to depend on it, but it’s definitely a
supplemental income,” Phillips said. “It’s getting enough money to
pay your annual tax bill plus putting some extra money in your
pocket.”
Phillips has rented out his own home and investment properties for
the past seven or eight years and said he has never had a bad
experience. His firm requires references as well as a damage
deposit from potential renters, and typically, applicants are
professionals just looking for a comfortable environment for the
week. His family then uses the week to take a vacation, see family
or in Phillips’ case, complete his annual National Guard training
in Sioux Falls.
“Most of the time, you come home to a fridge full of food, your bed
is made and your house is actually clean to the same standard that
you left it,” Phillips said. “If you look at what you’re renting as
a well-kept, quality place, they’re going to treat it that
way.”
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The city of Sturgis also benefits from having the event in the
community, reaping about $250,000 a year in profit from vendor
licenses, sales tax and other fees, City Finance Officer Fay Bueno
said. The city’s general fund budget is typically about $7 million
a year, and it costs about $1 million to put the event on.
“We have a wonderful overlay program to make sure the streets get
their maintenance. I used to work for the city of Whitewood; they
would kill to have a quarter million dollars to help out on
streets,” Bueno said. “It definitely makes life easier.”
Other communities throughout the Black Hills also benefit from the
additional motorcycle traffic.
In Keystone, there are times when traffic is backed up for a mile,
mile and a half at the stop light, said Bonnetta Nedved, executive
director of the Keystone Chamber of Commerce.
“The Fourth of July is one of our big weekends. The other one would
be the week of the rally,” Nedved said. “It gives a huge boost to
the economy.”
Keystone, with its proximity to Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse
Monument and Custer State Park, is particularly appealing to people
who are out riding before and after the rally, she said.
“Most of the rally is spent with a day here or there in Sturgis and
then riding. That’s what people come here for: the scenery and the
riding,” she said.
Rapid City, home to a majority of the area’s hotels, also sees
extra dollars during the motorcycle rally, said Michelle Lintz,
executive director of the Rapid City Convention Visitors
Bureau.
Over the last five years, August has been either the biggest or
second biggest month for the city’s “bed, board and booze” and
general sales tax collections. During rally week, hotel occupancy
in Rapid City is typically about 80 percent to 85 percent, she
said.
“It’s good for our hotels. It’s good for our restaurants. It’s good
for our shops and attractions,” Lintz said. “You can’t expect
business not to be up in these areas when you have hundreds of
thousands of people in the area for a couple of weeks.”
City officials have long looked for ways to capitalize even more on
the motorcycle traffic, in past years blocking off parking for
motorcycles on Main Street, doing rally-related marketing and
targeting organizations for conventions, Lintz said. Losing the
annual Harley-Davidson show to Sturgis last year didn’t help.
But even though no “magic bullet” has been found to attract more
bikers to Rapid City, the rally is still an enormously important
event for the region, Lintz said.
“There aren’t many events like this that bring so many people in
that everyone benefits from not only Rapid City but also Custer and
Deadwood and Spearfish,” Lintz said. “Nothing compares to it. Of
course, everyone wants to get as much business as they can from
it.”
Contact Emilie Rusch at 394-8453 or emilie.rusch@rapidcityjournal.com.