By Rob Sabo
Northern Nevada Business Weekly
Organizers of Burning Man's Web site suggest that Burners drink
1.5 gallons of water per day to stay hydrated - and the sale of that water and other necessities provides some much-needed liquidity for Northern Nevada retailers.
The annual festival, which is expected to draw about 50,000 people from around the world to the Black Rock Desert near Gerlach, begins Aug. 31.
Many Burners stop in Reno to buy water and other supplies, and retailers have learned through the years to handle a crush of tie-dyed shoppers.
Perhaps no store in the Truckee Meadows sees more business from Burning Man shoppers than the Save Mart on Keystone Avenue.
The store, which normally closes at 1 a.m., stays open 24 hours as the event draws near and also transforms a section of its parking lot into an outdoor market.
Store Manager Todd Baldwin says Save Mart has honed its preparation for Burning Man over the past 12 years. Supplying water has become one of the store's specialties. Baldwin stocks hundreds of pallets of water for the event.
Mike Cadena, owner of Simply Water in Reno, says Burning Man shoppers add the equivalent of an extra month's worth of business to his bottom line.
Other retailers have a long history of catering to Burning Man shoppers.
Scott Riedel, manager of Twin City Surplus, says business increases 30 to 40 percent in the week leading up to the final burn.
Riedel says Twin City typically stays open as long as there are customers shopping. The store sells large water storage containers and shade materials such as parachutes and camouflage netting.
"This is Nevada - you have to bring your trees with you," Riedel says.
Riedel says total revenues for the year are down, and he wonders how much impact shoppers will have for this year's burn. Burning Man attracts a wide range of income levels, he says, and the majority of Twin City Surplus shoppers are at the lower end of that range.
"It is the tent campers and those who are camping out of rental trucks and cars that usually stop here for supplies, and the people in those income brackets are definitely squeezed a lot tighter."
Carlo Luri, general manager of Bently Biofuels in Minden, says Burning Man accounts for about 10 percent of August revenues. Bently Biofuels supplies roughly 3,000 gallons of biofuel to the event for diesel buses and generators.
More importantly, Luri says, is the increased awareness biofuels receive at the eco-sensitive event.
"When people realize they can burn biofuel, they figure maybe they can do it with another application," he says. "It has led to continuing sales and brings recognition for the product."
Randy Robison, owner Black Rock Bicycles, started his business six years ago with 15 bikes he rented out for $25. Today the store has more than 500 bikes.
He's rented about 300 at $75 each. Business has increased to the point where Robison had to hire an accountant, and he expects to make a substantial profit this year. Black Rock Bicycles also sells accessories such as glow wire, bells and other supplies to make bikes "artsy."
"It has been amazing ride," Robison says.