Are our bars really ‘giving up on young people?’ Maybe…
Top story: The national trend that skipped us … or did it? (Photo by @alexandrarizzo_)
From the editor
From one reader to the next,
Saratoga’s rainy era has at least been good for getting some reading done. And on Saturday, the book in convo was one that Dispatch readers will recognize.
“Have you read Nic DiDomizio’s newest book?” asked Steve Rosenblum when I phoned him Saturday morning. “I can’t put it down.
You mean the “⚓ buzzy lake read starring Lake George?”
Yup!
Steve chairs the Saratoga Book Festival, Nic lives in town, and I … am a bookworm.
Stay tuned,
— Abby
In this issue:
🏇 Is the Triple Crown safe?
🧖♀️ Help us, Denise Dubois…
🎻 Philadelphia Orchestra’s 60th
🙅♀️ Last call for Gen Z?
💥 NYRA breaks the internet
Some huge news dropped this morning: NYRA and Churchill Downs have created a six-race series — called the Thoroughbred Championship — that includes the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont, plus the Matt Winn (Churchill), the Jim Dandy and Travers (here), and an unnamed closer back in Kentucky.
That’s right, detectives: no mention of the Preakness, which is still the middle jewel of the Triple Crown.
Oh my…
More info is incoming, but in the meantime, online chatter includes:
“…That is how we f$&king win together as an industry…Today is a good start for the future of racing. LFG!!!!!” — Mike Repole
“…I’d still run in the Preakness and the Triple Crown because it’s part of history, and the classics are still very exciting.” Bob Baffert
“Doesn’t really solve the Derby winner skipping the Preakness.” — online fan
“It’s crazy how anti-Triple Crown the sport has become.” — online fan
“Sad it leaves out the Preakness.” — online fan
“Doesn’t fix the Triple Crown and bs to exclude the Preakness.” — online fan
📰 IN BRIEF
The mayor doubles down on his proposed UDO changes, reports the Times Union.
Tom Durkin shares career highlights with Racing TV.
Fancy Clifton Park-based bottle water goes national, reports the Albany Business Review.
The A-list field is set for the Whitney Stakes, shares NYRA.
‘Glow’ secrets from Complexions
Complexions attracts a whopping 200+ new customers a month. So I asked owner (and CIDESCO Diplomat) Denise Dubois for her summer skin secrets:
Daily sunscreen — broad-spectrum SPF 30 or higher — “even on cloudy days”
Skincare with vitamin C
“Drink your water!”
Gentle exfoliation once or twice a week
Inner wellness matters: “Restorative sleep, movement, stress management and nutrient-dense foods”
“A relaxing massage or time in the sauna can have a profound effect.”
Glow time: “Professional facials can restore hydration, calm inflammation, and keep your skin looking luminous,” says Dubois, who also has her own skincare line, Dubois Beauty. “Summer is the perfect time to simplify your routine with lightweight, hydrating products.”
📌 ICYMI…
🎟️ OPENING NIGHT
It’s the two-day countdown to Opening Night for Philadelphia Orchestra’s historic 60th season in the SPAC amphitheater.
“[Longtime Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director] Eugene Ormandy had a tremendous imprint on the design of the theater,” says SPAC President Chris Shiley. “To be able to sit here 60 years later and celebrate their residency is a really amazing achievement."
The orchestra opens its residency with “one of our most beloved programs, the Tchaikovsky Spectacular," he says. "It's become a family favorite, a summer tradition. It's anchored by Tchaikovsky's famous 1812 Overture — one of the most iconic pieces, it just screams outdoor summer concert. It's such a fun work.
“We are one of the few venues that do actual cannons and live cannon fire as part of the work — and then we follow up with fireworks at the end of the program. We also have an amazing opener, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5, and Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Overture. So it's a wonderful, fun way to kick off the residency."
🚨 Trend alert
Could Caroline Street ever party like it’s 1999 (literally)?
Photo by @thecontentagencyinc
Maybe it’s my Gen X-heavy algorithm, but all weekend I was fed a Wall Street Journal article with the splashy headline Bars Are Giving Up on Young People and Catering to Gen X.
We all know that (a lot of) kids these days have traded boozy late nights for day-dates at juice bars — but people my age the focus of nightlife marketing and advertising? Come on now.
That could never happen here (home of Caroline Street!) … right?
“It's very hard to promote to kids who don't know what they want," admits one veteran Caroline Street source. "Gen Z don't really care about going out for socializing. And they definitely drink less — a four-pack of High Noon is enough for some 21-year-olds. They go out so they can post pictures and a video of them out on a Saturday night — when they might see a celebrity.”
So if the 20somethings are one-night-a-weekers, the WSJ might have a point about filling up the week. During a recent (non-Saturday) night out, at Gaffney's it was a 58-year-old holding court. And when I popped into Wild Horse for live music, the crowd at the bar was decidedly a Gen X-friendly 45+.
At Whitman Brewing, director of sales and marketing Sam VanDemark says, "For an event or a promotion, we definitely would lean more towards an older crowd because the younger ones are spending a lot less money. In the beer world, the younger generation do not drink craft beer. We do see them at our café, however." Whitman's most reliable spenders land squarely between 30 and 35 — "definitely both" millennials and Gen X, too.
Bocage owner Clark Gale sees it differently. His base is also Gen X and millennial, but he's actively trying to cultivate the next generation — half-price bottle nights in the off season, a bigger cocktail and spritz program built for lighter drinkers. He points to marijuana legalization and GLP-1 drugs, not generational abandonment, as the bigger culprits. "Our younger customers still want a third space to socialize," he says. "They just order differently."
📢 FINAL WORD (Gen Z)
Local, real, never corporate (it’s just me!). I cannot do this without you.
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