Latest / Mind Your Business - A Podcast Series produced by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce / High Country Businesses Working Together to Create Seasonal Experiences

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High Country Businesses Working Together to Create Seasonal Experiences · Mind Your Business - A Podcast Series produced by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_04: Seasonal activity defines the year for the high country economy.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_04: As we get closer to the peak of the fall season, how are local businesses helping one another and preparing for the bump?
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_04: From the Moon Area Chamber of Commerce, this is Mind Your Business.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_03: Mind Your Business.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_03: Brought to you by Appalachian Commercial Real Estate, providing professional commercial real estate services.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_03: Visit Appalachian CRE.com.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_04: Hello and welcome into Mind Your Business.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_04: I'm David Jackson, President and CEO of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_04: Thanks for joining us once again this week, whether that's through the airwaves of WATA here in Boone or as a subscriber of the podcast version of the program, which of course is made possible each week by our good friends at Appalachian Commercial Real Estate.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_04: If you are not yet a subscriber, that's not a problem.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_04: Just search for Mind Your Business wherever you get those podcasts.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_04: You can gain access to full archives, occasional bonus content, extended episodes, and plenty more as we connect you with the business news that you can use from right here in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_04: We come to you after an unexpected week off of the schedule, but we return with a timely story about how our economy functions.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_04: I know it doesn't always feel like it, but we are getting closer to fall.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_04: The thermometer one day will agree.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_04: And at this time of year, that truly separates the high country from the rest of the state.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_04: Everyone, for the most part, has leaves that change with the season, but our leaves come with a view and a festival and music scene that puts a unique stamp on visitor interactions and experiences that you just can't get anywhere else.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_04: We've talked about seasonal performance before.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_04: Summer and fall are the givens.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_04: Winter can be a bonus time for some.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_04: It's hibernation time for others, and the spring is where the fixing, the planning, and the dreaming happens as we approach the next cycle.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_04: It's no secret that we enter this fall with a few challenges.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_04: Gas prices that start with a four, continued economic ups and downs highlighted this week by the rising of interest rates by the Federal Reserve in an attempt to get inflation back in its playpen.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_04: I come back to the experience here.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_04: As people are planning their travel, key words we hear are efficiency.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_04: Where can they go and do and see the most stuff?
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_04: Affordability.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_04: Where can the dollar stretch?
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_04: And the uniqueness.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_04: What can I see here that I can't see anywhere else?
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_04: Again, all of those filters fit the high country incredibly well.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_04: Here's some numbers for context.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_04: We used our partnership with Placer AI to do some research on visit trends for the fall of 2023 and 2025.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_04: We took out 2024 because of the obvious disruption in the middle of that important season.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_04: The fall of 2023 was still post-COVID travel's honeymoon period, and our area was performing.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_04: From the beginning of September to the weekend before Thanksgiving, Watauga County saw 1.6 million out-of-market visitors in the area again during the fall of 2023.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_04: Weekend performance cracked an average of 100,000 visitors each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday during that period.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_04: Last year, same range, just 1.2 million visitors.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_04: And yes, there was some hurricane lag that was attached to that figure.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_04: But also remember all of the assets and tools from the state and local tourism partners that were available last year, pointing people back in this direction.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_04: That weekend volume in the fall of 2025 just eclipsed 100,000 averages on only Saturdays.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_04: Volume matters in this community.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_04: Businesses are set to perform to those other than us.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_04: And the fall and summer seasons are important times for these folks to pay their bills.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_04: Now, in talking with a local restaurant owner earlier this week, he said that weekends are indeed when they pay their bills in his terms, but it's Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday that can truly make the difference for his business.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_04: And that, my friends, is us.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_04: The importance of supporting local businesses helps them drive the unexpected sales that take some of the pressure off that occasional rainy weekend during one of these key periods.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_04: Now, if everything just didn't cost more, right?
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_04: This week on Mind Your Business, we're going to attempt to illustrate how businesses and activities feed off of one another.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_04: We'll hear from Danielle Nybauer of the In It Crestwood and operations director for the Independent Hotels for Aileron Management, which operates the Horton Hotel in downtown Boone.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_04: We'll get a summer recap from Danielle along with an outlook for the fall, but we'll also talk about her properties work to connect the dots to visitors, curated experiences, or just simply knowing what is going on so her business can help other businesses.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_04: From football games to festivals, there's always something going on, especially at this key time of year.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_04: We'll speak with Suzanne Livsay, Executive Director of the Appalachian Theater of the High Country, and hear how event organizers work to schedule their shows and happenings around times when they can impact the community in the most helpful way.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_04: And speaking of that, the App Theater is working to fill a schedule gap with a locally focused music festival here in Boone next weekend.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_04: So we'll give you some fresh scoop on that as well.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_04: The lesson of this episode: seasonal prosperity does not just happen.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_04: There is coordination.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_04: And the more intentional you are about using your piece of the puzzle to connect to others, the more opportunity we have to see the entire region feel that benefit.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_04: We'll get this conversation started right after the break.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_04: You are listening to mind your business.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_03: Appalachian Commercial Real Estate provides professional commercial real estate services in the Boone area.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_03: They provide sales, leasing, consulting, and appraisal services to owners and users of commercial real estate.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_03: For more information, go to their website at Appalachian CRE.com.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_04: Welcome back to Mind Your Business.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_04: I'm David Jackson.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_04: Before we talk seasonal business performance, let us talk about a local business that always has their calendar set on the best time to help you find your next commercial real estate home.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_04: That's James Milner at Appalachian Commercial Real Estate.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_04: They solve simple and complex commercial real estate problems in and around the Boone area and beyond.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_04: Whether you own or lease commercial real estate, regardless of the property type, have an advocate on your side, along with the expertise and experience to assist you and your business.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_04: For more information, check them out on the web, Appalachian CRE.com.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_04: We come to you this week, just one week away from Spirit of Boone.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_04: That's our 76th annual membership gathering, and it is sold out, by the way.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_04: Now we may have a few tickets that get turned back in as people solidify their plans, so call the chamber office, get on the waiting list if you are interested in attending that event on September 24th.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_04: At that event, we will talk about the stitching of community as we unveil our annual awards, how one business's success can highlight the next.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_04: That's part of the theme of this week's episode, in a sense.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_04: Danielle Nybauer has been in the hotel business since her undergrad days at App State.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_04: She now manages a portfolio of boutique hotels across the Southeast, while also owning and operating her own property right here in the High Country.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_04: This broad array of experiences allows her to see how properties and communities around the region approach the seasonal shifts.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_04: And she will agree, no one does the fall experience quite like we do here in the high country.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: I am incredibly grateful to get to work in Savannah and some other cities in North Florida.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I am not impartial when I say that Boone is one of my favorites to work in.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: But we have a great community that I have come up in since college, where the businesses that are downtown and in and around the community genuinely want to see each other succeed.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think that Boone is unique in recognizing that it takes all of us to get people to the market on a regular basis in every season.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: And a Savannah is one of our markets that we're in.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: And there's always international travel and people going, and they have an airport in and they do a great job of marketing their community and there's some interconnectedness, but the size of Boone really allows us to actually know the people that are running the businesses and know the phone numbers of our chamber members and some people helping run the town.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: And that for me personally makes my job a lot easier and a lot more fun because it feels like we're we're just doing it together.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: So I really appreciate that.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_04: So speaking of togetherness, everybody just came together through uh a summer that had some ups and downs to it.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_04: What was the overview on that from the hospitality industry?
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was definitely not the strongest summer that we've ever seen.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there is a lot of new demand.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we actually have 1.4% demand increase over the last three months.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: There's feels like new hotel rooms coming in every day, which does speak to a strong hospitality market, which we all know.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it has been um, in my opinion, sort of like a rebalancing.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: We had 22, 23, and 24 were just rock star years.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, obviously not the end of 24, um, but just rock star years for bringing people in.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think in a drive market like we are, the cost of gas matters a lot.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so the biggest impact that I've seen is our booking window is a lot shorter than it used to be.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we would go into the end of August with sort of a stronger fall and um honestly even some more reservations in the summer market windows as well.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: But um, lots of people booking last minute.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we have 32% of our bookings are actually happening in a three-day window, which just means that people are waiting last minute to decide to come up.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that has a lot to do with the weather and what their week looks like.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that's operationally can be challenging.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, how do you staff?
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: How do you make sure you've got the right programming going on?
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: But there's still people coming to Boone, that's for sure.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: You can see it uh when you're in King Street and and anywhere else.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_04: So you know, we we've talked some with businesses over the last few months about this theory of or of, you know, trying to figure out what the reset looks like, right?
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_04: You know, you mentioned uh very well that those post-COVID years were strong years, they weren't necessarily indicative of how it was going to be forever, but certainly that pent-up demand and people wanting to get out and kind of stretch their legs, so to speak, resonated, and it resonated in communities where there was trust.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_04: And and Boone certainly took advantage of that.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, you've got the the post-hurricane element of this as well, and now these economic times.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_04: Do you do you feel like there is a reset line that you can point to to say, hey, this is like it was pre-pandemic, this is like it was in 2017.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_04: And then um, how do you then quantify what that means in today's dollars?
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think um I have the unique position of uh one of my hotels wasn't even open um in 2017.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so our rebalancing, I don't know if we found it out.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: And um, Crestwood is also in a unique position where it looks a heck of a lot different than it did in 2017 or 2018.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: My best guess based on all the data I have available to me through CoStar, um, we're probably looking at like 2019 numbers.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it was tracking to be a good year, not the greatest year that ever existed.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I do think we'll see some of that rebalancing.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: And if we can get gas prices down, I think we have the right people saying the right things um pretty much year-round with programming.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: We know how to get people to our community.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's just making sure they can afford to get here.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_04: So talking about that programming uh and and what hooks people to come to an area, uh, you have the accommodations, you have the ability to house them and keep them captive.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_04: How many of your guests are truly coming up here for an experience that's not just one thing, that it may be like a show at the theater or a football game, but it leads down other pathways?
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: I would say at least 60% of our guests are coming for some sort of community programming.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously, you have the ones that make sense, like what's going on at App State, Move-in Weekend, football weekend, but we do see a lot of people come up for ancillary events.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we see sellouts for the NASCAR race that happens, which isn't even in our market, but people want to come and spend the weekend in the high country uh woolly worm festival.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: You pick a fall color and people are up here for it.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that bleeds out into what they're doing.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: And most of our guests are not just staying in Boone.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: We truly see them going out to the high country.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they're driving over to Banner Elk or um getting to some of the hikes and trails off the parkway, uh, which is always really fun.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_04: You've got a position where you are uh you've got a property uh in the Horton, of course, that is right down the street from the Appalachian Theater, right across the street from Appalachian State.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_04: Uh you you're in proximity to Boonerang, things along those lines.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_04: Uh can you explain the the value of those high impact events for for you and how that um how those weekends set up the rest of the year's success?
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we we love them.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think that I mentioned this earlier, but people come to Boone partially for its community.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: And our business community does an excellent job of making sure that we're all interconnected, intermarketing, interpromoting.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: And the downtown events truly are are pretty much guaranteed sellouts for us and give us the opportunity to add additional programming on our property.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: So when boonerang is going on, you better believe we've got a cocktail running that matches the theming of boonerang.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: When there is a show at App Theater, we've got fun cocktails happening that match the musicians, and we do some digging and research.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that getting everybody involved in those events is I think part of why people like coming, because you're gonna see your black and gold on King Street all across the place when there's a football game going on.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_04: So you've done a great job at all of your properties of connecting inside the doors of your facility other local businesses, whether that's product placement, um, you know, maps and things that will get folks there.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_04: I know you touched on on the connectedness of chamber members earlier, but how do you work the conversations and connection points with local businesses into your business model to kind of brand your hotel as a place that that can give you options just inside the door?
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, from the beginning, um I I went to Abstate and I graduated and I got the privilege of staying.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people don't get to stay.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so my entire career has been built in this community by forcing myself to go to business after hours events, even though I'm not the most extroverted person or wasn't when I graduated college, and forcing myself to send the email that says, hey, this is my business.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like these are things I think that we work well together and can synergize on.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: And being in your community, having conversations and creating your network.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: It really does matter that you show up to events and introduce yourself.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I am not above an Instagram DM.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you just got to slide into the DMs and say, hey, I know we haven't met before.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: I come, you know, drink at your restaurant every Thursday.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: I want to help promote it.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think we can do?
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: This is an idea.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I have found that people love solutions to problems.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think you get a lot farther if you approach someone with an idea or an inspiration or a request that says, hey, this is what I think would work well.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: This is why it works well for my business and why it works well for yours.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: This is how we can help each other rather than just throwing a, hey, I really love your business.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Let me know if you want to connect.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's a lot easier for people to say yes if you give them some options and some ideas and start the ball rolling rather than just this big broad question.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that that has worked very well for us at the Horton.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: We have our ParkPlus pass that has lots of local businesses on it with discounts.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we are about to roll out a spa program.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: And that all comes from us having this idea of what's going on in our community, what businesses are doing successful, and how we can help make them more successful and ourselves as well.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that's been really fun.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: I I've been very grateful to learn how to be hospitable in one of the most hospitable places, in my opinion.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's just it's been fun to connect with people.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: And genuinely, Instagram DMs have gotten me a long way in life.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_04: So that sounds like a bumper sticker.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it does sound like a bumper sticker, but I um I booked five or six musicians in like 12 hours just by sending some Instagram DMs and saying, hey, this is an opportunity.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to have you.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: Let me know.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_04: We'll pause for a moment.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_04: More of our conversation with Danielle coming up right after this.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_04: You are listening to MindYour Business.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_03: Appalachian Commercial Real Estate provides professional commercial real estate services in the Boone area.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_03: They provide sales, leasing, consulting, and appraisal services to owners and users of commercial real estate.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_03: For more information, go to their website at Appalachian CRE.com.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_04: Welcome back to Mind Your Business.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_04: I'm David Jackson.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_04: We continue our conversation with Danielle Nybauer as we discuss the seasonal impacts of business in the high country.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_04: Local audience obviously doesn't stay in the hotels all the time, right?
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_04: There may be the occasional staycation, but by and large, we drive past these places every day, not necessarily knowing the impact they have on the local economic picture unless you truly dive into that.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_04: What is something that the local population might not know about how your industry helps float the boats of everybody else throughout the course of an entire year?
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: That is a fantastic question.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um I am a hospitality industry diehard fan.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: I I grew up going to Disney and watching its impact on its community.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: I have seen the impact that the businesses and business owners downtown has had.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: I think that as a local, sometimes you just really don't want to fight the parking.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you don't want to fight the tourists.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: But I do really think for us, we talk at least monthly, we have a conversation about how to ensure that our local community understands what we're doing and wants to continue to be a part of it.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think that Boone is a place that if all we did was focus on our guests and people coming from off the mountain, we would be doing a disservice to our business.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I look at other businesses on King Street and have a great admiration for how they take care of the local community.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: And everybody loves a break on their property taxes and our occupancy taxes with all these hotel rooms keep going up.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: So you've got, you know, the nitty-gritty details of it.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: But I do really think all of the businesses in town focus on how our how we impact positively the local community and what we can do for them, especially in the winter months when there's not a lot of tourists.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: We want our bar to be filled with locals.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: We try to make sure we know their names and their drinks when they come back, if we've got regulars.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: And that can be really fun for us.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I also think um when my family comes to town or people who are coming from off the mountain who've read all these articles, um, you know, that we have some sort of ancillary connection to, it's really nice to bring them to King Street and say, look how, look how thriving this community is.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like, look how how many cars there are and how busy our restaurants are.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: Because if it's a Saturday, you're you're gonna wait an hour and a half.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just because we really are as good as we say we are.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: So we can deliver on the product we promote.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_04: A couple of final questions for you.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_04: You you've been involved in renovations of certainly the Horton and an addition to that property.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_04: Downtown, which is even further added to the suite of things that a Horton Experience can offer.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_04: You've also gone through an extensive renovation up at the inn at Crestwood as well.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_04: And that includes spa services, things that people seek out when they come to destinations.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_04: How much pressure is on the hospitality industry to keep reinventing themselves periodically to make sure that the experience does not get stale with repeat customers?
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_04: Like there's always something new for them to see every time they come to see you.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: Between those two products, I think we've spent just under$6 million in renovations in the last 18 months on making sure that there is still a reason for people to come back to the area.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: And the branded properties have requirements.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: And something about the independent space is we get to decide when we renovate and what we renovate.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I think for both properties, especially for Crestwood, is we wanted to reinvent ourselves a little bit and reposition and make sure that there is something new to see and a new reason to come.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: And that we're keeping up with technology and keeping up with the overall feel of the property.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: We want to make sure we're keeping an elevated guest experience.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: And in order to do that, you've got to change some beds and pillows and make sure that the ceilings are all taken care of and do some of the boring stuff, like get new roofs, which is very annoying, but has to be done.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I think I get to do a lot of the marketing.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: And what I love about marketing the renovations is building the anticipation of look what we're doing.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like we're not just going to stay stale and stagnant.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: We want you to want to come back year after year after year.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: And we're going to deliver the same hospitality.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: You're going to have the same experience and feel, but you're going to get to do it in a new room that might have a heated towel rack in it for the first time.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: And that has gone very well for us.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, renovations are not cheap.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it is nice to see Crestwood specifically finally turn a corner.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think it needed a property renovation for a very long time.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: And all of the hammers are down.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's nice to go into work and not hear a hammer or a drill.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um that's been a very long time coming for me personally, but engaging in some of the potential that that property always had.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: I still have work to do.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody who's been there will know I need a new parking lot.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: But we've done a lot of work and we've come a long way.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I have brides and people who come back every year who are constantly like, oh my goodness, this is new and that's new.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: And that's been a really fun privilege for me as somebody who's been at that property for almost nine years.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: I think I started when I was a junior in college at that hotel.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: So wow.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_04: Well, and and a and another piece to that too, you talk about six million dollars in renovations between the two.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_04: Those are local hammers that you're talking about, and a lot of uh either prime contractors or subprime contractors that are involved in that work.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_04: And that's just another piece where when those things do happen, that that benefits the local economy and and jobs and salaries and uh all of that type of stuff that is far outside the normal hospitality um uh economic performance that that we might think of.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_04: So uh something else to consider there too.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_04: My my final question for you, Daniel, is is really kind of what you see on the horizon um, you know, as as you're talking to visitors and and trying to again slide into the DMs of people and encourage them to come and engage here in the community.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_04: What is what is tomorrow's traveler looking for?
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_04: And and how is Boone, North Carolina in the high country going to respond to that?
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think tomorrow's traveler, um, based on the data that's been being put out, are still looking for luxury upscale stays.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that market is that segment of the market is continuing to really succeed.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I think Boone has the opportunity to deliver an upscale product at a personal level, um, which is a unique differentiator for us.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: You are going to have a luxury experience, but we're gonna know your name at the end of the day.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that that that makes us unique.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: I also, my fingers and my toes and my legs are crossed that we keep this winning streak up from the Mountaineers.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: I think that that will be um a huge success for the fall if we can continue having a successful football program like we've got right now.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's always helpful for getting people to come to our market.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I think um my personal goal is for us to work as a community to continue to tell the story that we are more than upstate.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: We have all kinds of amazing businesses to come and see.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: And there's something new to come back to every time.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: You do want to come back up the mountain.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I think if all of the businesses and everybody who gets to market this community can continue to tell the story of who we are and what we do, we'll continue to be successful in the long run.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_04: Well, hey, you're right.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_04: Three and oh sells a lot better than two and one, or one and two for that matter.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: So it does.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_04: Here's to another, here's to another win in the near future.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_04: Uh Danielle, we certainly appreciate your service to the chamber and and your wisdom, all of things hospitality related.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, appreciate the time and and wish you nothing but a busy fall ahead for for both of your properties.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate your time too, David.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: You guys really are rock stars, and I will constantly sing that from the rooftop.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_04: So a new rooftop, in fact.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: A new rooftop, I hope.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_04: Thanks to Danielle for her insights.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_04: You can check out the Horton.com for more details about their newly expanded property.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_04: And Danielle has been making her own moves up at the inn at Crestwood, as she mentioned, a newly renovated spa facility, apparently this new roof that she was talking about, and some of the best views that you could ever imagine in our entire area.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_04: Check them all out at Crestwoodnc.com.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_04: So, how does event scheduling play into all of this?
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_04: We'll go backstage with Suzanne Lipsdale, the Appalachian Theater, right after this break.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_04: You are listening to Mind Your Business.
• 28:43
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• 28:46
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• 29:33
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• 29:37
  SPEAKER_04: Accommodations are a key part of the story.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_04: Great local retail shops and restaurants are magnets for activity.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_04: And so many of our stores and eateries partner with local artisans and growers to make sure their seasonal allotments feature the best of our makers and growers.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_04: Another unique example about how businesses intentionally help one another.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_04: And who doesn't like to set a trip around an event?
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_04: My daughter and I went to Baltimore this summer to take on a BTS concert.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_04: We would not have gone to Baltimore had it not been for that concert.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_04: And we turned that into a three-day experience with a stop in DC and even a Cubs game.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_04: They took down the Nationals, PCA, hit a bomb.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_04: It was awesome.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_04: But it was the concert that got us up there.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_04: So think about how Boonerang works or Valley Country Fair or an abstate football game.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_04: If you take the time to go to a place for a specific event, you tend to do other things.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_04: And that makes our particular world go around up here in the high country.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_04: Suzanne Livsay is a professional event scheduler, and she knows when to hold them and when to fold them and what to run toward when it comes to scheduling the right event at the right time.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_02: So I am the kind of person that the minute that the everything from Wataga County School's calendar is released to app states, um Doug gets probably more emails from me than he should from someone who runs a venue downtown.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_02: So Doug Gillam might hear from me a couple times.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_02: This year, he definitely heard from me.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's March 1st.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_02: Where's my where are my dates?
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_02: And um trying to find out exactly when things are happening in the high country.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_02: We actually do have a great relationship with App Summer Festival and um Appalachian Arts.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_02: And I try to also steer clear of what they're doing because if they're presenting a blues and bluegrass show, um, I do not want to go head to head with that.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's it you you just can't be foolish like that.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_02: So that is first priority.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_02: Those external events actually go on my calendar before anything else.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_02: And because of that, we're actually a venue that when um I've got agents reaching out to me to book talent in my venue, I usually have to put them off.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_02: I'm usually kicking it down the road as far as I can.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_02: So I won't book summer until January because I need to know when App Summer is doing all of their events in July.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then I won't book my fall until I have the football schedule in hand.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_04: You know, we we see the patterns that that people get into when they come to the community for an event that usually takes them down other roads.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_04: How much have your patrons talked about that?
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_04: They may be in town for a show, but they find themselves into so many other things while they're here.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we are they we have lots of evidence that folks do come up the mountain to see a show that we're doing.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_02: Ricky Skaggs will pull people from all over the tri-state area because our tickets are almost half the price of some of the others that they're gonna be able to score for that show.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but at the same time, equally, we have just as many people that are up here that are gonna go hiking all week and want something to kind of cap their their week with on a Friday night.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_02: And so we're kind of there to pick them up as a peripheral event as well.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_02: And as they're strolling down um King Street, there's so many people that say, I saw it on the marquee.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_02: We ask folks where you saw this event.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_02: We looked in your windows.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_02: That's why when people there are many people are asking, can I have a window and put up XYZ?
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, my windows are such an important part of how we market.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_02: And people walk by, stroll by all hours of the day and can look and see, hey, wait a minute, did you see this Massed Americana series that they're doing this year?
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_02: Take a screenshot of it, and the next thing I know, they're buying a ticket.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_02: So we use our marquee, we put signs under the marquee, our A-frames, as silly as that might sound, um everybody sees it differently, whether they're driving by or walking by, or have the time to be able to stroll and explore what's in the windows.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_02: So we try to kind of hit it from all those different angles, hoping to pick up folks who might be here for something entirely different.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_04: You know, we we've talked on this episode about the value of the weekends, but the weekday is equally important as you are programming more events on the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday of busy seasons, be that the summer or the fall.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_04: How does that traffic tend to impact the businesses around you?
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_02: Well, it's really interesting because we had a band that we booked, Red Hot Chili Pipers, um, last year, and it was on like a Thursday night, sold really well.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_02: Nobody knew it was gonna sell well.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_02: And some area restaurants were like, why don't you give us a heads up?
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_02: We really didn't know that it was gonna do this well.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_02: And um, that's something that we since have actually reached out and we send our calendar to all the downtown restaurants so that they can plan ahead and at least look at it and go, oh, wait a minute, they have an event on a Tuesday night that could potentially sell well.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_02: We want to make sure we're staffed up.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_04: So the weekend periods are incredibly valuable.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_04: There was an opening uh that uh popped up for the weekend of September 26th.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_04: That is a high volume time.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_04: Want to make sure something's in the theater, and you have worked very quickly with some others to fill that hole.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_04: What can you tell us about that?
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so a big shout out to Mark Fried.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um he it started with a text from him.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_02: We were already considering it, um, trying to pull something together.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you got to be really cautious about not just replicating exactly what was supposed to be there, because that can look not so great on the theater.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so instead, um, us creating an opportunity to celebrate songwriters in the high country, Mark said, I said, if you curate, I'll make it happen.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_02: And so he did.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_02: He gave me a list of six songwriters that are coming up that are going to be part of what we're calling a songwriter collective and um trying to make it a really affordable ticket.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_02: Even folks who might have had tickets for something else could potentially come in and we'll take care of them.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_02: But um, yeah, we're excited about that event, and so that'll be on that uh Saturday night, and we're also adding a songwriter workshop earlier in the day.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_02: So we're gonna kind of turn it into a little mini songwriter uh celebration and feel like that'll be an opportunity to get some folks out to be able to enjoy what they were wanting to come up for.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_04: Uh last thing for you, uh, as a piece of the puzzle, what would you like to say to the rest of the pieces of the puzzle about the intentionality behind planning and just the the value in that, the value of conversation to make sure that, as you said earlier, people aren't stepping on toes, they're mindful of what may be coming next.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_04: Um, what's your encouragement to keep that dialogue as open and as free as possible?
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you know, I come from a place in Tampa where there was a literal hierarchy that was unwritten.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_02: This the place I worked was massive.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_02: It was one of the biggest performing art centers in the state.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_02: When they book something, other people were looking out for it and they wanted to avoid those dates.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_02: Gasparilla, you'd avoid everything on Gasparilla in Tampa.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_02: And I think we do that with abstate football.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_02: We think about some of those things, but to kind of keep in mind what big thing is going on around me before I book an artist that might be competing exactly with what um what's going on at the Schaefer Center, what's going on up on Beach Mountain.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_02: You know, keep that in mind because we're a smaller community than most people think.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_04: Thanks to Suzanne, and again, you can get tickets for the Songwriter Collective at App Theater.org.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_04: That's Saturday, September 26th, 7.30 start time.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_04: And again, you can join us at the Appalachian Theater October 1st for our annual Meet the Candidates Forum.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_04: That's on a Thursday.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_04: So come downtown and eat dinner first.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_04: It'll help those restaurants on a non-weekend day like we were talking about earlier.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_04: You are listening.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_04: Mind your business.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_04: Spirit of Boon may be sold out, but state of the community is now open for registration.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_04: This annual luncheon examines key community topics and allows us to give you a little update on the state of the chamber as well.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_04: This event is Tuesday, October 6th.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_04: See what we did there?
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_04: 11 a.m.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_04: to one o'clock, lunch at the Beacon on Highway 105 and Boon.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_04: Delicious food is key updates both on the state of health care here in the high country, and also we'll take a closer look at the long-term Helene Economic Development Recovery Strategy and specifically how that will play out in our area.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_04: You can get tickets right now for State of the Community at BooneCamber.com.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_04: That'll do it for this week's Mind Your Business.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_04: This program is written and produced each week by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_04: Thanks to WATA for placing us on the airwaves each week, and thanks to James Milner and the team at Appalachian Commercial Real Estate for making the podcast version of this program possible.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_04: If you are not yet a subscriber, you can fix that today by searching for Mind Your Business wherever you get your podcast.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_04: You can visit us online anytime at Boonchamber.com as well.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_04: Until next week, so long, everybody.