Early evidence sees slots boosting city economy

BANGOR – Since it opened about a month ago, Hollywood Slots has been busy, with customers pumping more than a million dollars a day through the machines and the parking lot full most days and evenings.

Businesspeople say it’s not rocket science that this should lead to increased economic activity in Bangor, but the extent and nature of this increase remain to be seen. Some early evidence is available, however.

Larry Geaghan, an operator at Geaghan’s Restaurant and Pub, located down the street from Hollywood Slots and next door to its possible ultimate home at the Holiday Inn, said his business increased about 15 percent in November, compared with October. Geaghan said November is typically a slow month for him.

“We talk to people who come here for breakfast and say they are headed to the slots when they leave,” he said.

Rick Schweikert, owner of the Grasshopper Shop downtown, said he has had some increase in business from the slots activity. He said it’s difficult to measure the extent of the increase because it comes at the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, but he knows of some customers who have come in to buy something with winnings from the slots.

Other downtown businesses haven’t noticed much, if any, change.

Laurel Butler, co-owner of Epi Sub & Pizza, said she has noticed employees of the University of Maine System in the restaurant, identifiable by identification tags around their necks. UMS recently moved its offices downtown. She has overheard customers and employees talking about Hollywood Slots, but has not noticed an increase in the number of Epi customers since the racino opened last month.

She said she had more business from the slots before it opened, when workers getting the facility ready would head downtown for lunch.

“My feeling is they’re staying down there [at the other end of Main Street],” she said of racino patrons.

Brad Ryder, owner of Epic Sports, said he hasn’t heard of anyone spending racino winnings at his store. Business has been a little bit busier, he said, but that could be because of the holiday shopping season.

“My gut is telling me we’re not really seeing a difference,” Ryder said. “Maybe it’s too early to tell.”

Back up the street, just south of the slots, Bruce Bragdon, owner of the A&B convenience store, said he has had a lot of business from slots players. He has sold a lot of cigarettes and snacks. “I would call the increase significant, especially on weekends,” Bragdon said.

Bragdon installed an ATM in his store, and it has had a lot of use from the gamblers. His fee is cheaper than the ATM at Hollywood Slots, and the word has quickly spread, he said.

Some politicians, most notably Gov. John Baldacci, were generally negative about the slots, implying that people would lose money there who could least afford it. So is the busy ATM evidence of that?

Obviously, there is no way to know. Orlando Frati, owner of a State Street pawnshop, said no one has come into his business looking to cash in items for racino spending money. He said some people from Nova Scotia came in asking how to get to Hollywood Slots but that he doesn’t know that they came to Bangor primarily to gamble.

Frati theorized that racino patrons are well-heeled enough that they don’t need to pawn their possessions for disposable income.

“I can’t see how it’s going to hurt at all,” Frati said of the slots-only facility.

A hot topic among Bangor businesspeople is the impact of Penn National development on Main Street commercial real estate values.

At Main Street Garage, next door to A&B convenience, owner Mike Gigere figured that if the gambling enterprise has long-term success, it is bound to increase the value of his property. As a garage, he said, it takes in revenue of $700 to $800 a day. But as part of a hotel or motel complex, he figured it would take in a lot more. He estimated a 200- or 300-room hotel would take in $20,000 to $30,000 day.

Jon Dawson of ERA-Dawson real estate, located next door to Hollywood Slots, said it’s a no-brainer that there will be some impact on commercial real estate values. The extent and nature of any increase, he said, will depend on what the city does with its extensive holdings on that area of Main Street. For example, the city owns the riverfront parcel from Railroad Street downriver to Hollywood Slots. And, of course, it owns Bass Park as well as several other parcels.

“The city is definitely the wild card,” Dawson said.

Gigere and Dawson agreed that if the city were to build a fancy new arena or auditorium at Bass Park or the riverfront and if it were to be heavily used, that would obviously add to the commercial draw of the area.