2 days ago
Brigham City Peach Days vendor restricted from selling beverages
BRIGHAM CITY, Utah () — Brigham City's Peach Days draws a large crowd every year, but vendors are concerned about a new restriction on beverage sales. Previously, vendors could sell their own beverages, but this year they're being told that's not an option.
In a statement to ABC4, the Box Elder Chamber of Commerce said that this decision was made to 'align with the terms outlined in its existing beverage contract.' The current contract with Swire Coca-Cola requires that other vendors not sell beverages at the event, though they have 'opted not to enforce these restrictions' in previous years.
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According to the chamber, this decision only affects four vendors out of 211. One of those vendors, Cory Anderson, said that this is not the first time they've had trouble with the Chamber of Commerce, and this decision will impact his business.
Anderson is the manager and co-owner of Anderson's Art and Antiques in Brigham City. During Peach Days, they've sold 'lemon shakers' and kettle corn at the celebration.
For several years, Anderson worked to be able to sell their lemonade — which they turned into lemon shakers due to restrictions — at the event, but they were often told 'no' due to noncompetes. Instead of selling at Peach Days, Anderson began selling beverages at the car show that was attached to but not part of Peach Days.
When the car show became part of Peach Days, Anderson pushed to stay part of the vendors at the car show, even though it was now overseen by the chamber. In response, he said that they sandwiched his booth between two Coca-Cola trailers.
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'They've also always had no sales of drinks or even handout of any kind, and that included water. And that didn't make sense, because you're running an event with 70,000 people in the summertime… it's just kind of disaster waiting to strike,' Anderson said. 'But those were the rules, we were threatened that we would get kicked out if we didn't follow everything.'
Not only was Anderson told he couldn't sell regular lemonade, they were also told not to sell or give out water, even in the event of an emergency. The chamber only allows EMS to give out water at Peach Days, and Anderson said it's roughly a mile from where he's located at the car show.
'If there were other competitors at Peach Days that sold the same things as us or they gave out water or anything, we'd really feel like there's not competition to us. We sell as many lemonades as we can possibly pump out… we do 800+ lemonade sales,' Anderson stated.
This year, Anderson said the Box Elder Chamber of Commerce has completely disallowed the sale of beverages of any kind. Anderson said he struggles to understand why they would pull away profit for local businesses who depend on Peach Days.
His father attended a board meeting to find out why this year was different, and Anderson said that Councilman Dave Jefferies heard their problems and said he would try to help them get back into the show. A little while later, he said that he couldn't help them anymore.
'It just doesn't even make any sense. We're not looking to make a big problem out of this, we've just asked so many times … and never get an answer that makes sense,' Anderson said.
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Anderson said that they have felt singled out by the Chamber of Commerce over the years, and this felt like a furthering of that. He hopes that the chamber will reverse this decision, and that all they really want is to sell their lemon shakers at the car show, and their exclusion will cost them $6,000 in revenue.
The full statement from the Box Elder Chamber of Commerce is below:
Earlier this year, in preparation for the upcoming Peach Days event, the Box Elder Chamber of Commerce made the decision to align with the terms outlined in its existing beverage contract. This contract contains provisions that limit which beverages may be sold during Peach Days. While the beverage vendor, Swire Coca-Cola, had previously opted not to enforce these restrictions, the Chamber ultimately chose to bring the event into full compliance of the contract.
This decision affected a total of 4 vendors out of 211 vendors participating in Peach Days. The Chamber has been looking at potential new beverage contracts and is considering all possible options. Once a decision is made by the Box Elder Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, this decision will be announced.
Box Elder Chamber of Commerce
ABC4 has reached out to Swire Coca-Cola and City Councilman Dave Jeffries for more information.
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