Rainy weather draining businesses' patience and profits
Michael Cousineau, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
5 min read
Jul. 29—Diane Cole hoisted a blue umbrella to protect herself from the noontime sun.
On a seemingly rare day without rain in Manchester, she shielded her 5-year-old grandson, Clark, as the sun sent the temperature climbing to 90 degrees last week.
"I think we're the only one with an umbrella," Cole said, as she watched the New Hampshire Fisher Cats play a day game at Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester.
But knowing how the summer has gone, she said: "Even if they say no rain in the forecast, it comes down."
Manchester had 15 inches of rain between June 1 through Thursday — more than double the average rainfall — with at least a trace of rain on two of every three days during that span, according to the National Weather Service.
Rainy weather and gloomy forecasts have put a damper on many summertime businesses.
"I think what's worse than bad weather is a bad-weather forecast," said Mark Blasko, owner of Chuckster's Family Fun Park, which has locations in Chichester and Hooksett. Both offer mini-golf, and Chichester also has batting cages, go-karts and a climbing wall.
After a record-breaking 2022, business is down 25% at each location this summer, he said.
Meanwhile, rain and, in one case, bad air quality have postponed or canceled nine Fisher Cats games so far this season, compared to four in the same time last year.
"Of course, it makes an impact," Fisher Cats GM Mike Neis said during last week's daytime game.
"It's New England," he said. "We've got nights where we think there's no hope and we end up playing nine innings of rain-free baseball, and there's also nights where we think we're clear and easy and at the end of the day something pops up and knocks us out."
According to Baseball America, the Fisher Cats recorded the biggest drop in attendance this season among 120 minor league teams with Major League affiliations through July 23, compared to mid-July 2022 crowds.
The Fisher Cats averaged an announced crowd of 3,502 per game in 2023, compared to 4,216 a year ago — a 17% drop.
Neis said those numbers include tickets given away. The team's actual paid attendance is running 2% to 3% higher on a per-game average than last year.
Despite more games getting scrubbed this year, overall ticket and game-day revenues for 2023 to date are higher than at the same time last year, Neis said. The team expects to be profitable in 2023.
Rain fell again during Thursday night's game, but the teams played through it.
Soggy SeacoastAt Hampton Beach, Bill Murphy said sales at BZ Gifts on Ocean Boulevard are "way down."
"It's the rain and the forecast of rain all the time," said Murphy, who estimated his business was off 20% from last year.
His best-selling item?
"Umbrellas — it's rain umbrellas and sun umbrellas," Murphy said.
Thursday's cloudy weather — and forecast of thunderstorms later on — meant there were few people at the beach by mid-morning, he said.
"It's actually a nice day to be here," he said. There was enough space to throw a football, and people reported the water was warm, Murphy said.
Bad weather, however, scuttled the tall ships Parade of Sail in Portsmouth later that day.
Later bookings
Murphy and other Hampton Beach businesses hope dry weather the rest of the summer will help them salvage their season.
June's vacancy rate for Hampton accommodations probably was up 50% from last year, according to John Nyhan, president of the Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce.
June "was a very poor month for our business community," Nyhan said. "It didn't help any of the types of business, be it motels, hotels, restaurants, retail.
"Different hotels were faced with cancellations. People watching the weather, and I even still think some of the weekly and biweekly rentals people are still watching the weather report before making a reservation," he said.
"Since the July Fourth weekend, we've had good weather down in the Hampton Beach area," Nyhan said.
"It's going to take a real successful July and August for the businesses to make up some of the losses in June. We all have our fingers crossed to continue with this good weather. Whether it's cool or hot, as long as it's not raining, that's the big hope," Nyhan said.
The chamber's beach office is fielding more calls than usual from people looking for openings within a few days, he said.
The weather is the deciding factor. "I don't think it had anything to do with the cost or financial considerations," Nyhan said. "People are going to come to the beach if it's a good day."
Dreary Derry
Brenna McCrevan, a supervisor at the town beach on Beaver Lake in Derry, said crowds have been the smallest in her six years working there in concessions and as a lifeguard.
"We just had so much rain and not a lot of people overall," McCrevan said.
Last week "has been one of our busier weeks this year because it hits the 80s," she said.
At Funspot in Laconia, the self-proclaimed largest arcade in the world, rain is an ally.
"The actual sun definitely makes it a little bit slower, not as consistent throughout the day," said floor manager Hunter Moore.
"The rainy days are super busy. We absolutely have to be fully staffed at all times when it's rainy," he said.
The business is busier than last year, but he didn't know by how much.
The ideal weather, he said, would be "a cloudy, partially rainy day," Moore said.
Back in Manchester at the ballpark, Cole saw a silver lining with all the rain.
"At least we've got greener grass," she said. "I don't have to fill my pool."
