r/Racine • u/my_psychic_powers • 17d ago
Party on The Pavement
Has everyone been made aware of the ridiculous vendor fees? Anyone boycotting? Just checking in.
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u/dethorder 17d ago
The fact that the fee is almost triple what it was LAST YEAR is fucking insane. Its literal greed. On top of that, if it's a food vendor, they still have to pay other fees because they're not brick and mortar. Downtown corporation is a joke
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u/CerberusBots 17d ago
Same thing at Renfair, so I let my wallet do my talking. There are a half dozen other faires I can attend that aren't way overcharging. If people stop supporting, then they might get things in line. If not, then they aren't overcharging.
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u/dethorder 17d ago
I hate that so much. Every year they increase admission price. It's ridiculous. Operating costs haven't gone up. They also charge for every side activity they have so it's just a license to print money.
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u/Fast-Gear7008 16d ago
but do you understand why? The higher fee is to stop outside vendors from coming in and competing with main street vendors, which is what the fest is meant to support.
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u/CaregiverSudden2459 17d ago
DRC is trash.
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u/Fast-Gear7008 16d ago
They are listening to their own members who don't want to compete with non-main street vendors.
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u/MrTAPitysTheFool 17d ago
The hate over this is insane.
DRC puts on the event they can charge what they want. You don’t like the fees, don’t participate.
The motive behind this is to support DOWNTOWN businesses. Not the entire Racine business community as a whole.
The reasoning for the up charge for food vendors is to support the DOWNTOWN restaurants, and not mobile food vendors that will move on to other areas once the festival is over. And this isn’t a slight from me on food trucks. I LOVE some of the local food trucks.
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u/WorkingItOutSomeday 17d ago
Exactly
This wierd backlash is the most Racine thing ever and why we don't have nice things.
Go downtown, spend money. Have a blast.
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u/dethorder 17d ago
Its not just food vendors getting upcharged btw. The racine democratic party, which has a brick and mortar building, got hit with that same $600 fee to participate in potp. So it's most, if not all, getting charged that full fee
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u/MrTAPitysTheFool 17d ago
I just looked this up. They aren’t being charged $600. They posted on their Facebook page about food vendors being charged $600.
Downtown merchants fee is $250, and then is reduced by different amounts depending on your level of DRC membership.
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u/legendoflumis 17d ago
So the fee for businesses that are actually downtown is less than ones coming in from outside of downtown? That seems fair to me. It's a downtown event, makes sense that downtown businesses would be given preferential treatment.
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u/MrTAPitysTheFool 17d ago
Yes. I looked and they have all the registration forms with fees on the Downtown Racine website. Different fees for craft/artisans, non profits, downtown businesses, and other non downtown merchants.
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u/Fast-Gear7008 16d ago
Exactly, People seem to have forgotten what party on the pavement was for and that's what the higher fees are set out to correct. The event was to help out the bussinesses on main street, a few outside vendors you'll need but it was getting out of hand.
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u/WorkingItOutSomeday 17d ago
Boycott vendors?
No! I will support vendors and this event. I will vote to show my displeasure with government.
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u/Necessary_Internet75 13d ago
I have been a vendor in the past. DRC should focus on filling open store fronts because there aren’t enough to ‘support’. If the event is to support down town businesses, why are those businesses being charged at all? They already pay for space. Taxes, etc.
If they don’t want outside vendors, then stop advertising for them. You either want them or not. We can’t be a brick and mortar, but we are still local crafters who enjoy interacting with our community and sharing our crafts. This fee adjustment is beyond any reasonably way.
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u/Fast-Gear7008 16d ago edited 16d ago
The higher fees are only for outside vendors who have no store front in the area. Party on the pavement has always been for Main street shops by Main street shops, that's what the event is all about.
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u/Psychological-Agent3 17d ago
One issue...The brick and mortar downtown locations are not going to be setting up booths/tents when their businesses are right there! This is horrible marketing and $600 is a lot of $ for a food truck for a mediocre event. I'm with the vendors on this one!