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Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Feb 19, 2001 Source: Grand Forks Herald Submitted By: Gina Boy band means business for Grand Forks By David Dodds Herald Staff Writer Grand Forks has never experienced an onslaught of people like the one that will hit town today. That's a popular refrain this week from hospitality and convention industry people who know what comes with major events. And events don't come much more major than today's Backstreet Boys concert at the Alerus Center. An estimated 21,000 screaming fans are expected to converge on the Alerus Center for the evening show by the popular boy band. More than 60 percent will come from outside of Grand Forks, making area retailers, restaurateurs and hotel managers very, very happy. "Can you imagine?" asked Gary Kalinowski, with Classic Limousine in Grand Forks. "It's going to be our biggest day of the year. I think it's going to be great." Kalinowski and Mike Drake run one of the biggest limousine services in North Dakota, with nine vehicles in their fleet. They also own two of the largest limos in the industry. But on Sunday night, Kalinowski said, they won't have a limo to spare. Kalinowski explained that eight of their limos have been rented for the evening, and the ninth has been rented by the Alerus Center as a standby vehicle for the Backstreet Boys if they should want to cruise around Grand Forks. 'Boys' and shopping Columbia Mall retailers, like Lana McArthur, manager of Vanity, are all smiles, too. Backstreet Boys fans are the perfect clientele for the type of clothing sold at Vanity, and McArthur hopes concert-goers spend a lot of time shopping before the show. "We're expecting a very, very busy weekend," McArthur said. "We're banking on people coming to Grand Forks early and making a shopping weekend of it." McArthur said she beefed up her staff to accommodate the throngs of shoppers. And with the Presidents Day holiday Monday, she expects many will take a long weekend in Grand Forks. "We're ready for lots of screaming, crazy fans," McArthur said. Deb Steding, with the Greater Grand Forks Convention and Visitors Bureau, said nearly all of the 1,660 total hotel rooms in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks are full. Steding, who also manages the Holiday Inn in Grand Forks, said her hotel has been booked solid since December. "Obviously, we've never seen anything like what will happen (today)," Steding said, "but the town has been full lots of times in the past, and I think our hotels will be prepared." Brian Conneran, who opened his AmericInn Motel & Suites in February of 1998, said his business filled up the day Backstreet tickets went on sale. "This is the first time that I've ever seen it like this in Grand Forks," Conneran said. CVB projections show that Grand Forks and East Grand Forks will see a $622,000 economic boost from meals, gas and lodging alone this weekend. Steding said that number escalates considerably when retail sales, concert concessions, and the countless other transactions that will happen over the week are thrown into the mix. Gassing up Scott Abernathey, manager of the Superpumper gas station on 32nd Avenue South, said he would have an extra person working Sunday night just because of the concert. But Loren Dusterhoft, who owns the Amoco on DeMers Avenue directly north of the Alerus Center, said he doesn't anticipate a huge influx of people buying gas. Dusterhoft explained that people who go to evening concerts, typically drive to the show, and then afterward, he said, they want nothing more than to get out of the parking lot and go home. All-day conventions and trade shows are better generators of sales for his business, Dusterhoft said. 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