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MITCHEL HESCHELES,
OWNER OF CHOW GASTROPUB
IN SPRINGFIELD
Oregon22’s Restaurant Flop
CUSTOMERS ARE AVOIDING DOWNTOWN EUGENE DURING THE CHAMPIONSHIPS,
FRUSTRATING LOCAL EATERIES
By Henry Houston
T
he starting gun has fired, but Oregon22’s
track and field-loving visitors from
around the globe are nowhere to be
found in Eugene restaurants.
In preparation for the track and field
competition that has drawn athletes,
media and spectators from around the
world, local restaurants stocked up on food and sched-
uled workers for shifts during the 10-day event. But so
far turnout at restaurants has been nonexistent, some
restaurant owners say, especially with locals staying at
home out of fear of crowded establishments.
The Riverfront Festival, though, has been a way to
support local businesses during the World Athletics Cham-
pionships, says Eugene City Manager Sarah Medary, and
the games were intended to be an statewide tourist event.
Mitchel Hescheles owns Chow Gastropub in Spring-
field. It’s located behind the Lane Transit District Spring-
field bus station, and he says his restaurant is closer to
the University of Oregon than downtown Eugene. But
he hasn’t seen an increase in business during the World
Athletics Championships.
Before Oregon22’s July 15 opening day, Hescheles says
he ordered more food than usual, did more food prep
and had everybody on the schedule, anticipating a huge
increase in business. But the projected extra customers
never showed up.
Most of the Oregon22 events have been 9 am to 3 pm
and 5 pm to 8 pm. With a no re-entry rule at Hayward Field,
attendees can either eat inside the venue or eat in between
morning and afternoon sessions. Thursday and Friday
events aren’t as long as the previous days, so Hescheles
says he hopes around that time visitors will be interested in
checking out restaurants outside of the UO neighborhood.
Downtown has been a ghost town during the games,
says Marilyn Magnus, who works as a bartender at First
National Taphouse at 51 W. Broadway.
“We’ve all been disappointed because we were expect-
ing to do well, making more money than we usually do,”
she says.
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Magnus says the restaurant decided to pare down
its food and drink menu to focus on items that wouldn't
slow down service time during the expected rush. The
restaurant added more staff, doubling its front of house
positions, expecting a large turnout.
But throughout the opening weekend, the custom-
ers didn’t come.
Business was slow on Friday night, the first day of the
games, she says, and Saturday night didn’t have steady
business until 9:15 pm. Customers are coming downtown
later because of the city’s Riverfront Festival, she says,
which has been a boon for the bars but bad for restau-
rants that close around 10 pm.
“It’s just been inconsiderate to local businesses to
have so much stuff around the event,” she says of the
championships, “instead of promoting people to go out
and eat locally. It really is taking business away from us,
and we all thought it would be the best week of the year.”
She says an automatic 20 percent gratuity to offset
cultural norms on tipping has helped with worker tips.
Having their regulars come in would’ve helped out, too,
she adds, but they stayed away because of reports that
downtown would be overwhelmed with crowds.
Even though nearby bars are seeing some increased late-
night business, First National Taphouse isn’t going to extend
its hours. “People don’t come here to get crazy,” she says.
“They come here to drink a couple of pints and eat good food.”
Eugene City Manager Medary says the Riverfront
Festival has been a way to make the Oregon22 events
free for everyone and support local businesses. In 2017,
Medary and Mayor Lucy Vinis attended the London World
Athletics Championships for a handoff ceremony, as well
as to see what to expect.
But the festival in London felt weird, she says. The
media corporation Dentsu organized everything and
there wasn’t a local flavor, she adds.
“It was always about a promise to this community that
if they’re here, everyone can play,” she says. “We wanted
local businesses, local restaurants, local beverages, local
artisans — a full on local presence.”
Had the city not organized the festival, she says it’s
possible that Dentsu and the World Athletics Cham-
pionships would’ve hosted its own event without local
business vendors.
Although the World Athletics Championships is held
in Eugene, Medary says the overall strategy has been
to get travelers to see all of Oregon. “People have been
encouraged to be all around the state,” she says. “It hasn’t
had a total Eugene focus other than the event itself.”
Business has even been slow in the Whiteaker neigh-
borhood, says My Soul Hot Chicken owner Michael Wiley.
He says he felt a difference in the area when his neigh-
bor Tacovore, long known for its wait, didn’t have a line
outside of its building.
Like Hescheles and Magnus, Wiley says TV media
outlets predicted long waits and scared locals from going
out to eat. “It’s been the complete opposite,” he adds.
“It’s been frustrating. I need to get all the help I can get.
It’s been very bad. We had the [Oregon Country] Fair this
week and that weekend wasn’t good for me.”
Medary says the city has not told any news outlets for
locals to stay at home, and that it has actually encour-
aged residents to attend events, such as the Riverfront
Festival. “We want people to come down,” she says.
My Soul Hot Chicken’s business model is focused
on locals, Wiley says, and doesn’t rely on tourists or
students. But after hearing that Oregon22 would be good
for restaurants, he says, he ordered a lot more chicken
and bread than he normally would for a week.
But business during Oregon22 has been so slow, he
adds, that for this week he only ordered some cabbage.
“I am 25 percent of what I projected to do,” he says.
So far, Wiley estimates he’s lost thousands of dollars —
a big number for a new business. “I was paying payroll and
had barely enough to cover it,” he says. “It’s been shitty.”
Losing so much money in a 10-day event that the state
of Oregon poured $40 million into has been frustrating,
he says. “You think they’d want to make sure local busi-
nesses would do well,” he says. “Everyone I’ve talked to
has done poorly.” ■
E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M