About the KC Strip discount sales offer on Groupon last week…
Our man Tony took a sledgehammer to the party trolley’s sale of discounted ride tickets, claiming it was a sign of desperation. That the Strip was already a losing proposition and would likely leave taxpayers holding the bag for the $500,000 Kansas City had loaned the system.
Au contraire, counters Strip honcho Bill Nigro.
“This is just a part of doing business,” Nigro says. “Every business does things to get its name out there and other than the ad in the Pitch we haven’t done anything – we haven’t done any advertising. We’re just now starting to advertise and we had our best weekend last weekend without any advertising. The whole Groupon thing haden’t even started.”
Groupon is a targeted email blast for a heavily discounted “daily deal on the best stuff to do, see, eat, and buy in” whatever area. In the case of The Strip, Kansas City.
And while the not-too-far between-the-lines on some of the local businesses that have signed on with Groupon might rather strongly hint that they were in sore need of new customers in the free falling economy, powerhouses like Michael Smith and Blanc Burger have also signed onto the service.
It’s merely marketed, Nigro says.
“When we start advertising on the radio is Tony going to say that’s another sign of us being desperate,” Nigro asks.
So just how good was last weekend’s traffic count on The Strip?
“We had about 600 riders and 300 a night is our break even,” Nigro says. And we hadn’t even advertised and we had thunderstorms and everything. It would have been even bigger had it not been raining. Let me tell you, women will not go outside when it’s raining. They spend all afternoon getting ready and fixing their hair and they aren’t about to go out in the rain.”
Matt Helm
Women don’t ride transportation where there are idiot drunks and simulated sex acts either. The thing has been an embarrassment for the City Council and it’s hard to imagine what a tourist will think when they observe some of the behavior which is encouraged by the operators. Nigro and Glazer can blow all the smoke they want, it’s a massive failure.
Charlotte
I’m a business woman and recently planned an outing with friends starting at Martini Corner. Talked to the trolley ticket seller who said that there was no A/C and to get to P&L we had to go over to the east side to 18th & Vine first…a scary – indirect route. Decided not to take after all. Cabs worked out well.
Rainbow Man
I am hearing from my 20 something friends that the Trolley is way, way cool and well attended. Guess what else, a light rail line from Downtown, Westport, and Plaza would change the city forever.
Morgan
Hey Bill … The girls I date will go out in the rain! 🙂
Tony is a Bitch. Keep up the positive attitude. You are providing a great service to Kansas City. The Trolley is such a great time.
We all love it.
Eric
Charlotte, the trolleys all have A/C. 18th & Vine isn’t scary either.
Charlotte
Hey Eric… (re a/c) then why did the the ticket guy tell me otherwise? And why are they operating with their windows open when it’s 90+ degrees?
Kitty Krash
For Tony to say a business is going down the tubes because they are on Groupon is stupid. It’s marketing plain and simple. If Tony had any business sense or any sense he would know that. This would be a freshmen level Marketing 101 idea.
Kia Zi
I was up at the Kicks on Wornall friday night. Some of the Trolly workers were buying chads and getting ready to go to work. They were very nice and alot of fun to be around. They had nothing but raves to give about their joibs and how much they really enjoyed the whole Trolly thing. I don’t like the Nigro’s and the way they take from KC but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything negative in the mist of all the fun. It sounded like I was missing out on the action, so me and my friends but on some high heels and took the tour. It really was alot of fun amd it got funner the more we drank. It was a relief not to be driving. Down deep, I kept looking for some “shit” to bitch about but everything was well organized and the people working were friendly and very enjoyable to be around. Damn it, I specifically stop on this story to talk shit on the Nigros’ but there wasn’t one person who didn’t enjoy them self so my only concern now is, how come when ever there is sex or sex acts going on some where, I keep missing out. It’s not like I wasn’t looking for it, people say there is sex stuff happening on the Trollys but I say, which one?, cause I can’t seem to find it!
Charlotte
I just know what occurred in my case and it doesn’t match the hype.
Kia Zi
What ever happened to customer satisfaction? If Charlotte did not enjoy the night due to advice given by employees or a hot miserable ride, she should be given a free ticket and invited to try it again. There is always room for improvement, especially on a new project. Word of mouth is very important to the growth of KC and it is the best advertisement money doesn’t have to buy.
Charlotte
Thanks but no thanks Kia Zi. Someone on here said that they’re air conditioned but why then did the ticket guy try to talk me onto a white a/c ‘d bus that he said “runs every other time”. ????? I called a friend who’s an aid of a City Council person and was told that City Hall is very disappointed in how the Trolley has worked out and the Council feels they were misled. I donate politically and plan to mention this non-sense whenever I get the opportunity in the future.
MediaJunky
When is an unbiased party going to do an honest investigation of the Trolley deal? Tony is being and opportunist (as usual) and a lot of people know that the principals in the Trolley plan are buddies with Hearne and Glazer.