South Sound bars and restaurants bank on a winning Hawks season
Mike Heelan, the longtime owner of O’Blarney’s Irish Pub in Olympia, remembers when Seattle-based sports teams weren’t such a hot ticket for South Sound bars and restaurants.
The year was 2008: The Seahawks won four games, the Sonics moved to Oklahoma City, and the woeful Mariners lost 101 games.
The biggest sports draw that year were the Seattle Storm and Seattle Sounders, Heelan said.
What a difference a few years make.
That’s because the Seahawks, as we all know, have appeared in back-to-back Super Bowls, and won their first title over the Denver Broncos in 2014.
That success has energized a fan base that proudly wears Seahawks gear to work on Blue Fridays (or as often as possible), then fills bars and restaurants to stand, cheer and root on the Hawks together on game days.
They also spend money.
“It didn’t take long,” said Heelan about fans embracing the winning Seahawks. “This team was something special.”
The team’s success has meant a 20 percent boost to sales, or an additional $1,000 at O’Blarney’s each time the Seahawks play, Heelan said.
Spread that over a 16-game season, and the playoffs, and it’s a significant sum, he said.
The business usually can accommodate more than 100 customers, but the business squeezed in 312 fans for last season’s NFC Championship game between the Seahawks and Green Bay Packers.
O’Blarney’s is not alone: The owners of River’s Edge in Tumwater, Pints and Quarts on Olympia’s west side, and Oly Underground in downtown Olympia say the Seahawks are integral to their success.
NINETY-EIGHT PERCENT SEAHAWKS
River’s Edge co-owner Patrick Knutson also remembers the days when fans of the Green Bay Packers were more common than Hawks fans at his restaurant on NFL Sundays.
River’s Edge in Tumwater valley has incorporated Seahawks-themed food and drink specials into its menu, as well as offering prizes and giveaways during games. It also has played off the success of Blue Fridays, holding a party in late afternoons or early evenings on Fridays before a Seahawks game on Sunday.
They had one of their Blue Friday parties last year during the playoffs that left Knutson stunned.
The party was set for 5:30 p.m., but fans started showing up three hours early and filled the place. With the doors propped open and people filing in, Knutson found himself on the phone calling employees to come in to work.
“Get in here,” he recalled saying as the crowd grew.
Knutson, who said he doubles his sales on Seahawks game days, said his best one-day sales total from a Seahawks game was $14,000.
PINTS HAWKS NEST
Musong Kim, who has owned the Pints & Quarts at Capital Mall for nine years, is wrapping up a wall-to-wall renovation of the bar and restaurant.
The newly renovated destination is expected to open between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Friday (Sept. 11).
Key to the renovation is a new area that he is calling Pints Hawks Nest, a mezzanine floor that will be home to four tables and bar-style seating, enough room to accommodate 30 people. That extra space will increase capacity by 20 people, he said.
Kim wants to continue to capitalize on the team’s success, especially after the jam-packed, emotional roller coaster of last season’s NFC Championship game. When the game appeared in doubt, customers were urged to stand and support the team, and then the incredible happened: The Hawks won.
Kim said it was so loud in his bar and restaurant that employees at other stores in the mall left their positions to investigate the commotion. He can’t imagine business without the Seahawks, saying every food and liquor vendor would feel the loss of business.
“Look what happened when the Olympia Brewery closed,” he said, comparing it to the effect if the Seahawks were to go away or relocate.
A FULL SEASON OF SEAHAWKS
Oly Underground, a downtown Olympia bar and restaurant, eagerly awaits a full football season because they just opened in December, co-owner Tina Boardman said.
But they did experience last season’s Super Bowl, which was both great — they were near capacity — and sad, because as soon as the team lost, Boardman estimated that $700 walked out the door that might have been spent celebrating the team’s victory.
They’re ready for this season, she said. Breakfast is now served on Sunday mornings and they plan to offer a rotating, all-you-can eat game day buffet of biscuits and gravy, taco bar and baked potato bar.
“Hopefully, they go to the Super Bowl again and win again,” Boardman said. “Then it’s really a win/win.”
This story was originally published September 10, 2015 at 3:45 PM with the headline "South Sound bars and restaurants bank on a winning Hawks season."