Businesses react to cancellation of weekend events in Akron

Each employee working Saturday night at The Lockview received $200 from owner Daniel Barsone to compensate for the shutdown of operations after all weekend events on the city-owned property were canceled.

Barsone said his restaurant at 207 S. Main St. lost $7,500 because Akron Mayor Shammas Malik canceled the city’s events Friday, Saturday and Sunday due to security concerns. to the mass shooting of June 2.

Taking care of his employees was Barsone’s priority, he said.

“I’m lost today,” he said. “I always put the employees first. I don’t want them to be distracted by what’s going on and say, ‘Let’s go to Cuyahoga Falls and work.’ It’s safer.” The city pushes everyone away. I don’t think Akron is dangerous. Things happen everywhere.”

Malik made the announcement during a hastily arranged press conference on Friday evening. Discontinued events included the North Hill 5K (moved to July 7), the American Heart Association Heart Walk (no makeup date yet), and the Akron Juneteenth Festival at Stoner/Hawkins Park (no makeup date yet), which should have been the kick-off. -offline event at the city’s eight-day Eighteenth Day celebrations.

Barsone said he and other local entrepreneurs have had to run their businesses through other periods of weak sales such as COVID restrictions and downtown Akron’s 2022 curfew following the deadly shooting of the police against Jayland Walker.

This time, Barsone, whose company celebrated its 23rd anniversary in Akron on Saturday, said he was contacting an attorney.

“I know what the city is going to say: ‘We’re going to give a tax break,’” he said. “I don’t want a tax break. I want the income I would have earned that would help my business move forward.”

Other business owners also saw a drop in turnout over the weekend.

“We probably had one of our slowest Saturdays of the year,” said Brad Cover, owner of Twisted Tomato Pizzeria & Beer Wall at 325 S. Main St. “It’s all about the events at the center- As things stop here, it’s “just close the doors because nothing’s happening. »

Cover said Fridays and Saturdays are his store’s busiest days in the summer because of scheduled activities.

James Crooks of Tear-Ez at 360 S. Main St. said the bar’s sales were down compared to the average weekend.

“It was slower than usual,” Crooks said. “I was here Saturday and Sunday during the day, and it was slower than usual. Saturday and Sunday night it was a little slower than average.”

When preparing for an event-packed weekend, Crooks said the bar usually doesn’t need to bring in extra staff except during the Akron Pride celebration on Aug. 23, when Tear-Ez expects to be packed from opening to closing.

Barsone said the upcoming weekend looks better for The Lockview, with blues rock singer Bonnie Raitt coming to the Akron Civic Theater on Saturday. With more than 2,400 tickets sold, he said the restaurant will do its best to create a fun time for a large crowd.

“There will be a lot of people there to see the show, and a lot of them won’t realize there’s a problem downtown, and when they come to town, we want those customers to love Akron” , did he declare. “Now that (the events are) threatened by the city, they’ll say, ‘Wow, is Akron that dangerous? Home of the Black Keys, LeBron James and Chrissie Hynde? I don’t think it’s that dangerous. The city , the advice scares everyone.”

Ogarth Thompson, owner of Jamaican food truck Ogarth’s Kitchen, had signed contracts to work at Saturday’s Juneteenth Festival in Stoner/Hawkins and the Sunday West Akron Parade and the Juneteenth Father’s Day Celebration at Buchtel CLC and Kerr Park.

Thompson stressed the importance of safety, calling it “priority number one over everything.”

However, he called the event cancellations an “unfortunate situation” and said he was looking into why city officials decided to cancel them.

Thompson said it would be helpful to event organizers and vendors to know if anything can be done to improve event security.

He said he spent between $800 and $1,200 on food for the two weekend events, including about $700 on oxtails alone. On Monday afternoon, he said most of the food should be held until the next event he hosts, the Akron Urban League’s seventeenth anniversary celebration, at the organization’s building on Vernon Odom Boulevard. Monday evening, the City of Akron and the Urban League announced a joint Juneteenth celebration at the John S. Knight Center.

He said he wasn’t looking to place blame on specific city officials.

“Politically, I try not to address that aspect because right now people are just basing their feelings on their emotions because people were planning to go out this weekend, spending money; some people were planning go out to receive and earn money,” he said.

Tiffany Becton, The Honey Pot Doula, signed a contract to be a vendor at the Saturday Akron Juneteenth Festival in Stoner/Hawkins Park that was canceled Friday.

Becton said she has been a vendor at this festival for a few years, with the exception of last year when she worked another event. Her event vendor services include consultations and the sale of products such as herbal teas.

She said she loves seeing the community, including children and businesses, come together for the Juneteenth festival in Stoner/Hawkins.

“But at the same time, safety is important,” Becton said.

Event organizers posted on Facebook that another festival could take place in July, which Becton said he welcomed. She added that she would feel safe taking her family there as long as police patrol the event.

“Pray for protection and peace,” she said. “More peace in Akron: that’s what we need. More peace and love.”

Reporter Isabella Schreck can be reached at [email protected]. Reporter Patrick Williams can be reached at [email protected].