Is per-capita spending the true measure of concessions success?
When you’re selling food to enhance the experience of being in your building and to make people happy, per cap isn’t the measure. The measure is transactions per guest. There aren’t many people tracking that right now, but I do. When I look at how the concessions programs I’m involved with are performing, I look at participation. If I go to a sporting event and the first thing I buy is a $9 beer, I take my wallet and push it a little deeper into my pocket. Q: How would you characterize this participation so far at Citi Field? A: Mets vice president Mike Landeen told me that in the first 25 games of the season, attendance was down 18 percent from Shea Stadium because the new building is that much smaller, but our food sales were up 43 percent. And we lowered prices from Shea on such core items as hot dogs, water, soft drinks and beer. Our strategy was that if we earned the customers’ trust, they would reward us with greater participation. We were definitely going to generate less per un
