Nobody in Maine roots harder for the New England Patriots than businesses that benefit financially from the team’s Super Bowl success.
Establishments that sell food, beverages, party supplies, team gear and memorabilia said the Patriots’ appearance in a Super Bowl provides the same economic boost as a major holiday. Those businesses include supermarkets, pizza delivery joints, alcoholic beverage sellers, sports bars and party supply stores.
Gineal Davidson, vice president of marketing and merchandising for Massachusetts-based Shaw’s supermarkets, said the Super Bowl is a boon to grocery retailers because it increases sales across all areas of their stores.
When it involves the Patriots, that just takes things to another level, she said.
“If you have a hometown team like the Patriots … with a huge fan base like they do in New England, people just get a little more excited,” Davidson said.
That excitement translates directly into dollars, representatives of area businesses said.
The biggest element of the Super Bowl sales boost is food and drink, and it’s all about comfort food, alcohol and snacks. Think wings, ribs, pizza, beer, wine, party platters, chips, salsa and guacamole.
John DeRienzo, manager of the Shaw’s in Falmouth, left, and assistant manager Brad Spencer tidy up a display of soda and snacks Thursday. Supermarkets say a Patriots’ appearance in a Super Bowl provides the same boost as a major holiday.
“We more than double our avocado sales during Super Bowl week,” said Hannaford supermarkets spokesman Eric Blom. “We sell more than 320,000 avocados during Super Bowl week.”
But that’s just the beginning. Hannaford stores in Maine will sell up to four times as many chicken wings as usual and 10 times the normal amount of frozen pizzas.
“It’s a big snacking event,” Blom said.
Nationally, Super Bowl viewers are expected to eat 1.33 billion chicken wings this year, according to the National Chicken Council. They will make guacamole out of roughly 105 million pounds of avocados, according to the California Avocado Commission, and wash it down with about $1.2 billion worth of beer, according to survey firm Nielsen Co.
Isaac Stroe, the “beer nerd” at Maine Beer & Beverage Co. in Portland, said the Super Bowl provides a major boost in sales for both premium local beers and the bigger national brands.
“When the Patriots are in it, people are definitely going to go even more nuts,” he said.
Stroe also expects that some Super Bowl fans will add cannabis to their list of game-day consumables following voters’ passage of its legalization for recreational use in November.
“Now that things are legalized, people will probably pack a super bowl,” he said, referring to marijuana pipes.
Tripp Corson, an assistant deli manager at Hannaford in Falmouth, takes freshly made wings from the oven Thursday. The store expects to quadruple its wings sales for this Super Bowl Sunday.
It will be awhile, however, before any businesses see a direct benefit from marijuana consumption. The first retail stores won’t open till at least February 2018.
Not surprisingly, restaurants that sell pizza and wings also see a significant increase in business when the Patriots make the playoffs.
Amber Hathaway, general manager at Leonardo’s Pizza in Portland, said the restaurant prepares more wings and pizza dough and brings in extra staff to handle the higher volume. She said the boost in sales is typically 10 to 15 percent.
“If the Patriots are playing, we see a bigger increase than if they’re not playing,” Hathaway said.
Eric Shepherd, director of marketing and communications for Otto pizza in Portland, said dine-in business decreases by about 30 percent during the game, but that it is offset by an increase of up to 65 percent in take-out and delivery orders.
“At our locations where we offer delivery – nine of 12 locations – about half of our sales on Super Bowl Sunday will be delivery orders,” he said.
The biggest seller for Otto on game day is typically its mashed potato, bacon and scallion pizza, Shepherd said.
“It’s comfort food, especially during the winter months, and it goes especially well with a good local craft beer,” he said. “Although it’s new this year, we expect our Sriracha chicken and avocado pie to be a big seller for us this Sunday.”
Will Mac stocks produce at Hannaford in Falmouth on Thursday. Super Bowl viewers will make guacamole from 105 million pounds of avocados.
Binga’s Stadium in Portland is expecting a packed house inside its sports bar and big take-out business for its wings and other menu items, general manager Elena Corliss said.
“It actually affects us more for take-out,” she said. “We do a ton of catering and take-out (for the Super Bowl).”
The sports bar will be full, but Corliss said it’s always full for Patriots games, and that only so many people can fit in the place, as large as it is.
“We fill up all our tables anyway for a Patriots game,” she said. “It can’t get any crazier than it already is.”
James Tarsetti Jr., owner of Paper Party House in Portland, said he gets his Super Bowl boost from selling banners, catering trays, plates, bowls, cups, napkins and utensils. Having the Patriots in the big game will keep the store busy right up until Sunday, he said.
If you’re hoping to pick up such items with the Patriots logo on them, you’re already too late, Tarsetti said.
“If they even get close to the playoffs, that stuff sells out fast,” he said.
Davidson, the marketing executive at Shaw’s, said another big sales boost will come if the Patriots win the game, in the form of team-branded jerseys, T-shirts, hats, mugs and other products.
“If the Patriots win, that provides a whole other opportunity,” she said.
J. Craig Anderson can be contacted at 791-6390 or at:
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