Sports bars benefit from Cardinals' run

Traffic has increased at such places as the Skybox Grill & Lounge, which opened in April at 1271 E. Montclair. Skybox manager Michael Hope said the team’s success has been a windfall.

“For us, it’s been fantastic,” he said. “We’ve always done good business during Cardinals regular season games, but we’re doing two to three times the business during the playoffs. In the World Series, it’s been even more than that.”

Hope said the evening sales during baseball games have outdistanced the traditional big business day for sports bars: NFL Sunday.

“With the Chiefs and the Rams not doing as well this year, they haven’t been bringing in a whole lot of people,” Hope said. “Compared to the Cardinal crowds, it’s almost like a lunch crowd versus a Friday night.

“Sales can run up to $5,000 or $6,000 a night compared with just a couple thousand on a regular night, so the upshot in business has been fantastic.”

The increase is even more noticeable when compared to similar restaurants in other cities. Teresa Stacy, manager of Buffalo Wild Wings at 900 E. Battlefield, Ste. 100, in Battlefield Marketplace, said that because the restaurant is new to town, it’s hard to gauge the impact of the World Series. But she said the difference is remarkable compared to other restaurants in the Buffalo Wild Wings chain.

“Compared to other stores, business has doubled,” she said.

It’s no surprise Poppycocks Pub & Grill, 631 S. Kimbrough, has been a fan favorite.

“We’re strictly a Cardinals bar – our whole theme is the Cardinals, all our memorabilia is the Cardinals – and the turnout has been unbelievably huge,” said Poppycocks owner Robert L. Johnson. “It’s probably triple or quadruple a normal night.”

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