RAGBRAI comes to Valley Junction.....

E

eldub

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Hey, kids.....

The annual bike ride across Iowa is overnighting in our neck of the woods next Tuesday. Its the first time in 16 years that the event has stopped in the metro area. 15,000 riders are expected. The shopping district where our shop is located is hosting a party for the riders all day Tuesday. Seven to eight thousand riders are expected to attend as well as many locals. There will be bands, beer tents and food stalls.

We're in the process of brewing 20 gallons of iced tea and 20 gallons of iced coffee. I'm also putting together 100-125 tabouli/chickpea wraps w/ tahini and yogurt dressing. Everything will be prepared and ready to go out the door by 9:00 am Tuesday when the first riders are expected to arrive in town. Their route takes them right to our door.

The group is notorious for their alcohol consumption. I'm hoping 40 gallons of tea/coffee and 100 vegetarian wraps will be sold from the shop in the eight hours of the event, but who knows?

Any comments or suggestions appreciated.

scott
 
Wow! That's a lot of people!

What's the rest room situation? Will they be bugging you to use yours?

You're going to need a lot of ice for the iced drinks.

Do you have a backup plan in case you need to make more gallons of iced tea and iced coffee?

Have you asked friends and family to help you that day?

Have plenty of change on hand - I've noticed that bike riders carry $20 bills, and not small bills, so they can keep their wallet pouches flat. When they buy something, they tend to put any loose change into the tip jar instead of putting it in their pockets and having it fall out.

I hope it's a very successful day for you.

Rose
 
No back up plan. I cold brew the iced tea and coffee so 40 gallons will be all we serve Tuesday. I'll also brew up a few gallons of hot coffee for the hard cores. Hopefully we'll also sell a few bags of coffee beans and loose leaf teas.

Looks like I bought enough ingredients for 120 tabouli/chick pea wraps, too.

I have a friend, sister and nephew and niece helping me out that day. The neighbor will be selling ice so that will be easy to get to if necessary.

I'd be happy closing up a bit early if/when everything gets sold.

Thanks for the tips, Rose.

scott
 
LOL I've been thinking about that, expat. However, I'd have to do an "under the table" operation, as we don't have a liquor license.
 
Give the whiskey away and leave a big tip jar on your table. That's what I did in the past.
 
I'm guessing there will be plenty of other places offering alcoholic beverages. You'll do find selling the iced drinks that you've prepared. After all, there are plenty of people who don't drink alcohol during the day.

It sounds like you have a fantastic setup already. I bet you'll sell out of everything you have, and you'll be a very happy camper!

Rose
 
24 hours to go. I'll finish the last batch of iced coffee this morning. I'm planning on putting the wraps together this evening. (All components are in the fridge, sliced, diced and ready to roll.)

I'm still a bit nervous, as I'm guessing we would have gotten a lot better exposure by buying a booth in the official vending area. On the other hand, I never would have been able to put enough wraps together by my self to make that profitable. (It would have cost us an additional $400-$500 to get set up in that area. We are a half block off of the main drag, but the road block to keep cars and pedestrians separated will be set up just before our building. (We're outside of the road block.) I'm hoping a couple of sandwich boards advertising the wraps and iced drinks, along with the "Organic Coffee and Tea" signs on our awning is enough to get people in the door.

The Maid Right loose meat sandwich shop in our building will be setting up on the far corner and is hoping to sell 800 sandwiches. Folks have to get past us to get to them. There will also be beer tents and other vendors outside of the blocked off streets, so I'm hoping a few of the 8,000 people congregated in the six square blocks make it into our shop.

Two more batches of coffee to roast this morning and I'll be ready to sell some beans as well. These bikers ride in teams and most have a vehicle that follows behind with all of their provisions. Hopefully a few coffee addicts will want fresh beans for the week.
 
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Get plenty of sleep tonight....you're going to need it!

Good luck and enjoy the ride!

Rose
 
Hey Scott,

How did it go?

Did all of your preparations work out as you planned? Is there anything that you'd do differently the next time?

Rose
 
It went OK.

The prep worked out as planned.

However, I made way too much food and iced beverages. The day was not too hot, so I ended up selling a bunch of brewed coffee.

We were really the only option for healthy, vegetarian food, so many people sought us out after hearing what we had. And I was lucky that my brother in law, niece and nephew showed up early enough to help with the final details. They also came up with the idea of putting a sandwich board in the roped off area alerting people that we had vegetarian wraps down the block. Then they took chalk and wrote ads on the sidewalks in many strategic places where crowds roamed. Believe it or not, that really made a difference.

We sold some coffee by the bag and got a lot of good exposure to locals coming by for the party. However, I could have gotten by with half as much food and iced drinks. We ended up in the black, but the day entailed a lot of time and effort. Now comes the clean up.

The Maid Right a half of a block further from the crowd shut down mid afternoon due to lack of business. There were plenty of meat offerings on the main strip. They spent a lot more money then we did and got a lot less business. (Their norman lunch crowd stayed away.)
 
I bet you're exhausted! I'm glad you ended up "in the black" after all of that time and effort.

From what I've read on-line, the RAGBRAI was a very big deal. It's great that you had the chance to get involved in the festivities.

Plus, you got some good exposure to the locals, and now they know you're there!

I like the chalk ads on the sidewalks idea. That was very creative.

Thanks for letting us know how it went.

Rose
 
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