On your marks, get set…
Last weekend’s first full pay-to-play run for the KC Strip party trolleys may have been a bit underwhelming but there’s more to the story than meets the eye, organizers say.
While ridership was less than half of the Strip’s debut weekend, ride-for-free numbers, cooler temps appear to have taken a toll – not just on potential Plaza rioters – but on the party crowd in general. KC’s nightlife scene was pretty across-the-board quiet, according to most observers.
Strip ridership shrank from the previous week’s 600-plus Friday night and just shy of 1,000 Saturday to less than 300 this past Friday and just over 300 Saturday.
Organizer Bill Nigro says that’s because of the weather and the fact that the Strip is not being heavily promoted yet during the cool rainy spring season. To what extent the charging riders for the first time took a toll remains an unknown.
“We haven’t run one commercial for it yet, but that’s all coming,” Nigro says. “The only press we’ve had was from publicity in the media.”
Translation: as the crowds pick up as the weather warms, the Strippers will launch their promotional campaigns.
Stay tuned…
Chuck
1. They realize it’s cold half the year in Kansas City, right?
2. I’ve been bombarded with KC Strip crap the last couple weeks by every media outlet I pay attention to. Maybe it’s just a stupidly expensive idea? Maybe it’s karma for taking taxpayers money for stupid public transit while the real public transit had budget cuts?