LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – As Lubbock prepares for the influx of visitors to see the king of country, everyone is talking about his return.<\/p>\n
Shane Blum, owner of Lantern Tavern, says he is expecting a huge influx of visitors.<\/p>\n
\u201cI work at tech and everybody at tech even is like oh my God, George Strait, are you going to the concert, people have been talking about it for weeks at a time,\u201d Blum said.<\/p>\n
Opportunity for local businesses <\/p>\n
Buddy Beach, operating partner at Las Brisas Southwest Steak House, said the concert brings more than crowds. It creates an opportunity to bring in new customers and keep them coming back.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is going to be exposure, this is going to be marketing, for our business as well as our other friends who have restaurants so that people will want to come back to Lubbock,\u201d Beach said.<\/p>\n
Blum said his restaurant is already changing operations to handle the expected rush.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe ordered a lot more bottle beer, mostly Coors Light, because that is kind of a thing, and then food wise we are ramping up with the food, like I said we usually open at four so we are going to open early, so we have to come in and prep a lot more, a lot earlier, and then staffing as well,\u201d Blum said.<\/p>\n
Making a good impression on visitors<\/p>\n
Beach said Las Brisas has about 1,200 reservations for the weekend, which is 50 percent higher than normal. He said restaurants have one chance at a first impression, which can make the difference in keeping people coming back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to have a lot of folks come in that have heard about us and want to give us a try, even though we are going to have a lot of people here, we have to make sure everyone\u2019s experience here is wonderful the first time,\u201d Beach said.<\/p>\n
Beach said he is confident every restaurant will provide the hospitality Lubbock is known for.<\/p>\n
\u201cWest Texas is going to rise to the occasion, I have no doubt, we got a lot of friends, long time friends in the industry and we are all talking the same way, this is going to be such a great event,\u201d Beach said. \u201cBut for us here, we are used to this and as I mentioned a while ago, we have professionals, that come to work every day and they give it 100 percent, and I have no doubt every other restaurant in town will do the exact same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
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