KANSAS CITY, Mo — Christmas Day is often about spending time with loved ones or tradition, but for some it means a critical boost in business.
“It’s madness just like usual,” New Peking’s manager Tony Teng said. “It’s seems like our dining business has all been you know converted to carry out or delivery."
Despite clearing out the usual crowds from dining rooms, Teng and his kitchen said they are still feeling the pinch — double the preparation and half the man power. But sales from Christmas Day alone make up ten percent of their December revenue, and their regulars count on them each year.
“We want to be this fall back — a safety net. The kind of place where if you don’t feel like cooking, or you have nowhere else to go, this is the place you can always count on,” Teng said.
Melissa Osborn, general manager of Denver Biscuit Company, Atomic Cowboy and Far Sully’s, kept her doors open for the the first time this Christmas. Turnout has been better than expected, passing her sale projections by 50%.
“We’ve actually had more take out in the first two hours than we normally do by this time on a Saturday,” she said.
Osborn said she hopes being one of the few places open today will help get their name out in the community as well.
“Especially being new to the Kansas City area, a lot of people don’t know about us,” Osborn said.
Meanwhile at Screenland Armour Theatre, a local movie theater in North Kansas City, bar manager Jenny Cook said staying open is more about industry standards than extra profit.
“It’s kind of a traditional thing for movie theaters to open on Christmas,” Cook said.
It is something John Kenney, working his first Christmas shift at Screenland Armour Theatre, did not expect.
“I was thinking it was going to be very few people because it’s a holiday. I was wrong,” Kenney said.
