Oshkosh businesses excited for increased traffic from EAA AirVenture

Appleton resident Cheri Borowski has been coming to the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual AirVenture event since she was a little girl watching air shows with her father.

Now, as a mother herself, she tries to make the trek to Oshkosh for the event every year with her husband, Chris Borowski, and their children. 

While they try to go inside the event every couple of years, one of their favorite spots to watch is actually just outside the grounds, in a small field connected to the parking lot of a nearby Hardee’s restaurant.

It’s long been a popular spot for locals and visitors who want to see airplanes fly overhead, but don’t necessarily want to endure large crowds inside AirVenture.

“It’s just really nice, relaxing, and it’s peaceful here,” said Cheri Borowski. “You get a nice view. You get a chance to talk more, I think, to the people. My daughter has special needs, so it’s (also) easier for us.”

Her husband echoed those sentiments, saying they’ve met a wide variety of people watching the airshow from the parking lot.

“We’ve met former pilots, former military people, and it is nice to be able to go and just casually go talk to the people sitting around here,” Chris Borowski said. “They kind of have the same interests that we do and it’s pretty cool.”

The Hardee’s does require those using the parking lot to watch the airshows to buy something inside. But it isn’t the only local business that sees a boost during the week of AirVenture, which runs through Sunday.

EAA AirVenture is expected to bring roughly 670,000 people to Oshkosh and generate more than $170 million in total economic impact to the region. The event is known as the world’s largest air show and fly-in convention.

The first day of the event was marred by a plane crash just a couple miles from the EAA grounds that left two people dead. Each year, roughly 10,000 aircraft fly into to the convention.

Ian Wenger, one of the owners of Fifth Ward Brewing Co. on South Main Street in Oshkosh, said the brewery is between 25 to 50 percent busier during AirVenture. 

He said business from EAA has generally gotten better each year since Fifth Ward opened about seven years ago, thanks to word of mouth from those in town for the event.

“Every year, it gets a little bit better, a little bit more and more crowded,” he said. “I think people just kind of realize that we’re here, new people realize every year and then come back the following years after that. It’s slowly building.”

In addition to serving customers local brews from the tap, Wenger said Fifth Ward also sells four packs of beer to EAA attendees to take back to the grounds where they’re camping.

“We do see a lot of beer going out,” he said. “You got people camping out there, so they’re picking things up and bringing it back into the grounds.”

Another place that sees an uptick in business during EAA is Pete’s Garage Bar on Oregon Street in Oshkosh, where part owner Don Mathe said a dedicated group of AirVenture attendees stop by year after year.

He said the bar and restaurant doesn’t do a lot of advertising outside of Facebook, but the word of mouth has kept visitors coming back.

“They’ve been coming for years, so we see them year in year out,” Mathe said of the AirVenture regulars. “We’ve already built relationships with them, and then they bring their friends.”

Mathe estimates that Pete’s Garage Bar does roughly double its normal food sales during the week of AirVenture, as well as sees increased alcohol sales. 

This year also marks the first time the business will have a physical presence inside the AirVenture grounds. Mathe said Pete’s Garage Bar will have a tent set up inside the event, where it will sell food and drinks. 

“We’re the only place on the grounds selling Spotted Cow on tap,” he said.

Beyond Oshkosh, EAA’s impact extends throughout the Fox Valley. Cheri Borowski said she’s already seen it get busy in Appleton.

“Fox River Mall (is) crazy. You can tell at night it really picks up,” she said. “Hotels are really crowded right now.”