News
March 16, 2018DSIC and Chamber Announce Success of 2018 Schenectady Restaurant Week
The Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corporation (DSIC) and the Chamber of Schenectady County are pleased to announce the success of the 13th Annual Schenectady Restaurant Week, which took place February 26-March 4, 2018. A total of 26 restaurants in Downtown Schenectady and nearby areas of Schenectady County participated in the promotion by offering multi-course, fixed-price menus for $25. Data gathered from participating restaurants and customer surveys showed increasingly strong results for the popular promotion.
Chamber CEO Mark Eagan said, “The average amount spent per person before tax and tip this year was $33.42, which is 33.7 percent over the $25 promotional price and represents a slight increase in average spending per person over 2017. With an estimated 13,860 meals served over the seven days of the promotion – or nearly 2,000 more than 2017 – this means the 13th Annual Schenectady Restaurant Week had an economic impact of approximately $463,200, which represents an 18.25 percent increase over 2017.” He added, “We are so very pleased that this promotion continues to provide a significant economic boost to restaurants during a normally slow time of the year.”
DSIC Executive Director Jim Salengo said, “This year, 35 percent of guests were from outside of Schenectady County, up from 34 percent last year, and 40 percent were trying a restaurant for the first time, up from 37 percent in 2017.” He added, “In addition, the DSIC’s website received nearly 15,000 page views during the promotion, 79 percent of which were new visitors to the site. These numbers show that Schenectady Restaurant Week continues to generate new interest and participation in Schenectady’s burgeoning dining scene.”
Schenectady Restaurant Week is coordinated annually by the Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corporation and the Chamber of Schenectady County. Promotional support was provided by Discover Schenectady. The 2019 event will be scheduled for next winter after the release of Proctors’ full performance calendar. For more information on Restaurant Week, contact the Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corporation (www.downtownschenectady.org) at 518.377.9430 or the Capital Region Chamber (www.capitalregionchamber.com) at 518.431.1400.
