With the New York State Fair around the corner, local restaurant owners are making sure they are stocked up to feed hungry people over the 13-day event.
“The main thing with the fair is having enough product and inventory to keep up with the high demand of people attending,” said Zach Marji, owner of Fair Deli. “We’re currently making our supply list of every ingredient that goes into each of our menu items.”
Marji said it is especially difficult to store all of the ingredients once they do come in.
Marji and his mother inside their store on State Fair Boulevard. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)
“Luckily, we have a brick-and-mortar, so we have our walk-in coolers and our freezers, but it’s especially hard for people who don’t have access to something like that,” he said.
This is the second year that Marji has set up for the fair, and last year was a great learning experience, he said.
“I’d say scheduling is super important because last year, I didn’t know how to gauge it and I didn’t know how to schedule staff, so coming in this year we’re looking at our notes from last year so we have more people for the busier days,” Marji said.
The fair rents space to vendors by the square foot and are sold in 5-foot increments, the price varies between $5.02 and $26.60 per square foot depending on the location within the grounds.
Marji’s space is approximately 300 square feet, but the more square footage a vendor needs, the lower the rate they pay, according to the fair’s website.
Marji said the fair is a very expensive event to participate in due to the products needed, advertisements, staffing and vendor fees.
“I think that a lot of people don’t realize the cost that goes into the fair, so they see all this money coming into the businesses, but it wasn’t until we did it last year that we realized how expensive it is to be there,” he said.
Fairgoers enjoy a fried meatball from the Fair Deli state fair stand in 2022. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)
In addition to being at the fairgrounds from 7 a.m. to well after 10 p.m., Marji closes his store 13 days— making it crucial that he turns a profit.
“By the time we’re looking at the startup cost, and how much you’ve spent, you really start to think ‘well we better do well, and it better not rain every day,’” he said.
While it is expensive and time consuming, Marji and his mother Annie Marji, who has operated for over 20 years on State Fair Boulevard, say participating is worth it.
“I grew up here in the store. We’ve been here for 23 years now, and I find it cool to be able to be part of the Great New York State Fair. It is a great time, and it’s absolutely worth it,” he said.
Another staple returning to the state fair for the seventh year is Toss & Fire wood-fired pizza, owned by Nick Sanford.
“I start planning for the fair at the beginning of the year. There’s a lot that goes into it. For us, it’s two days of physical setup before the fair, but prior to that we’re prepping items, ordering things, scheduling our tent to get delivered and our refrigerated trailer to get delivered,” Sanford said.
Staffing is always a challenge, Sanford said. Many of his employees go back to college toward the end of the summer.
“It’s always a challenge to handle that end of summer transition from the very busy summer where I have a lot of staff to losing some people, but luckily we’re fortunate to have a really great key group of people,” he said.
The smash burger pizza from Toss & Fire which is one of their fair exclusive pizzas at the 2023 New York State Fair. (Photo courtesy of Toss & Fire)
The State Fair increased their fees for vendors this year slightly, Sanford said.
“It’s an expensive event, but it also gets you in front of a lot of people, so as a business owner, you have to look at that kind of thing and say this makes sense for me or this doesn’t make sense for me,” Sanford said. “For us, the fair makes sense even with the price increase.”
Being able to pull data from previous years has helped Sanford order a precise amount of product.
“When I first started, I was literally guessing, and I would over order and under order, but now I know the second half of the fair is the busiest and both weekends are very busy, so we’re able to sort of base it off previous years,” Sanford said.
Although attendance was lower last year than years pre-pandemic, Sanford said it was the busiest year they’ve had at the fair.
“I don’t know if that just means people are getting to know that we’re there, but it’s a big place,” he said. “It’s hard to find people if you don’t know where you’re going. I think that ideally, you see an increase and more interest in what you’re doing the more you go.”