Local businesses prepare for influx of tourists

Jul. 20—CHEYENNE — Over the duration of Cheyenne Frontier Days, the total population of Wyoming's capital city practically doubles to around 150,000 people.

That sudden increase makes a dramatic, even crucial economic impact on downtown businesses. All of them, be they restaurants, bars or apparel centers, are taking steps to effectively meet the demands of the influx of visitors during the city's most popular event of the year.

Preparing is a strenuous task, and the stress is only elevated for those serving in the hospitality sector.

One of the most popular selections for hotels in Cheyenne is the pairing of Fairfield Inn and TownePlace Suites, both subsidiaries of Marriott, located on West Lincolnway.

The two locations traditionally have different client bases, but both are overseen by general manager Marissa Vargas. After experiencing CFD last year as the assistant general manager, Vargas knows what must be done to be adequately prepared for such a rush — particularly while hotels are still recovering from the various impacts of COVID-19.

"Generally, we deal with our housekeepers as we'll inspect 10 per board, so 10 rooms per associate for housekeeping," Vargas said. "If they have 12 rooms, there's two that we won't check. Obviously, if there's complications with the other 10, then we check them.

"That's going to change during CFD."

Instead, every room in the hotel will be checked and maintained once every other day, to make sure the quality remains satisfactory for the guests' comfort. It's more difficult on the hotel — the Fairfield has 15 to 25 rooms to clean per day and TownPlace has eight to 14 — so much of the staff is multitasking.

Vargas started training her staff to be efficient in performing other roles during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and now that preparation, though born out of necessity, works in the hotel's favor.

The worker at the front desk knows how to clean a room, and Vargas herself jokes that even she sometimes assumes janitorial duties. There's no other option when you have just six employees responsible for housekeeping.

Employees at Fairfield and TownPlace have also undergone special training in preparation for meeting higher customer demand, a not uncommon process for businesses around the city.

If there were one place in Cheyenne that can expect an onslaught of visitors, it's The Wrangler, which functions under the operation of the Western outfitting chain Boot Barn.

Typically, general manager Marshall Reed keeps about 18 employees on staff, but for CFD, he'd like to have at least 40. Currently, he's at 33, many of which are newcomers.

He's made it a priority to train those new employees for the shock of what Reed anticipates being at least 1,000 customers per day, all looking to outfit themselves in authentic Western gear.

"We had a full staff meeting just to try to prepare the new people for the onslaught of humans coming through so they don't get overwhelmed," he said.

By the end of next week, the boot racks will be empty, and there will hardly be any cowboy hats left over from a stock of 4,900. And that's even after he prepares with a fully stocked basement.

The real hitch for Reed and his staff is the prominence of The Wrangler — as one of the flagship Boot Barn locations, housed in a building that's historic to the city, they have the pressure of maintaining an image.

"It is all about the image, with this being the main store in a town that has one of the big four rodeos in this country," Reed said. "Everybody comes here, they want to be a part of it, everybody in our corporate office and all the vendors. We get people from Ariat, Wrangler and Dan Post boots — they all come to this.

"From an image standpoint, this place has to shine."

Just two plots over, the Albany Restaurant and Bar is dealing with a similar situation. Not only is it the most historic restaurant in downtown — having been in business for about 80 years — but when someone searches "restaurants in Cheyenne" online, the Albany is one of the first results.

Operations within the restaurant hardly change at all, aside from staff having to accommodate for the rush of visitors. Where general manager Dubrien Conteras has stressed preparation is in the Albany's equally historic barroom.

Keeping at least three or four bartenders behind the wood, checking identification at the door and moving tables out of the way for standing room during things like Cheyenne Day will help with the flow of traffic in the smaller space.

Luckily, the restaurant's proximity to the Depot Plaza has given the bar staff a little bit of training ahead of CFD, thanks to the bar crowd during Fridays on the Plaza performances.

Reed wants to be prepared, but it's all about keeping the staff in a healthy place for the duration of the next 10 days.

"If you need a little time, you can spend the day with your family and prepare yourself," Reed said about keeping the staff positive. "A lot of stress comes with these kind of times when work gets busier, and I want to make sure we're taking care of them so they can take care of the guests."

In another part of downtown, Black Tooth Brewing Co. on 19th Street is preparing for daytime drinkers.

Fully staffed and thoroughly prepared under the leadership of general manager Steph Reece, Black Tooth will actually be scaling back on the precautions that Reece took last year.

In 2020, Reece had four bars running in the tap room, including the main bar. She found that the main bar was simply more popular than the smaller stands, where the selection of beer was more limited. This year, she's keeping the count to three.

With a relatively distant location compared to the rest of the watering holes downtown, the brewery is trying to fulfill the needs of a different clientele during CFD — parade-goers.

"We are opening early on parade days, since we're downtown, and we get a lot of people walking by here for the parade. We're opening earlier to try to catch that earlier crowd," Reece said.

While Black Tooth is scaling back after last year, The Crown Bar is preparing for battle.

As one of the only late-night bars in downtown Cheyenne, co-owner Jon Coverdale anticipates what he hopes will be the most business the bar has seen since he helped found the space in 1992.

Even as one of the busiest bars in downtown, the daily schedule for the staff at The Crown is daunting, but it's necessary to keep the bar functioning. Some employees volunteered for 12-hour shifts on the busier days of the week, and Coverdale pushed opening to 7 a.m. while tripling liquor orders — orders that will be restocked every couple days.

He anticipates the bar's entire liquor supply will be gone by the conclusion of CFD.

"With a downtown location, the plaza and things of that nature, we're really good," Coverdale said. "We have a couple of new bars, the Albany has been there forever, we now have the Horse Palace. So that's going to help bring business.

"Each business helps bring more business downtown. That's kind of how that works."

Will Carpenter is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's Arts and Entertainment/Features Reporter. He can be reached by email at wcarpenter@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3135. Follow him on Twitter @will_carp_.