Corporate Holiday Parties Are Back on the Menu These Days

’Tis the Season

Mick Corduff has been in the restaurant business long enough to know what brings customers in.

In many cases, it’s a simple change in the weather.

“It kind of clicks into gear right now. I think most people’s grills are being put away, and the patio furniture has been brought in, so people are starting to go out a little bit more,” he said. “And now we’re gearing up for the holiday season.”

Ah, yes, holiday parties. As owner of two venerable Holyoke dining spots — the Log Cabin, with plenty of space for large company events, and the Delaney House, suitable for smaller gatherings — Corduff understands the draw of corporate get-togethers, and he’s hoping other strong signs from 2024 carry over into November and December.

“We’re coming off a really busy wedding season, and foliage season has been going really well. We just finished some Thanksgiving menus, finished up the Christmas to-go packages, and the reservations for holiday gatherings are starting to trickle in now.”

Corduff said companies who like their experience with the Log Cabin or Delaney House have learned to rebook early.

“There’s always a last-minute Sally, but then there’s the customer base that has the same Friday every year — the Friday before Christmas, or two weeks before, or the first Saturday in December. We’re actually seeing some holiday Christmas parties in November, a little earlier than usual, especially with the bigger ones. They really want to have it on a Friday night or a Saturday night, and the Saturday nights tend to be grabbed up really quick. So we have a few customers that are doing it in late November, mid-November, in and around Thanksgiving.

“We just finished some Thanksgiving menus, finished up the Christmas to-go packages, and the reservations for holiday gatherings are starting to trickle in now.”

“You can work with them on pricing when there isn’t such a high demand, so that’s always a good thing for them,” he added. “Or they might get the whole facility, rather than having to do smaller rooms because it fits what we have. Like I said, we’re really starting to pick up on Fridays and Saturdays right now.”

Holiday bookings seem comparable to where they were in 2023, he added, partly due to the loyalty factor.

Mick Corduff says many repeat customers for holiday parties like to book the same dates year after year.

“We have a loyal customer base that comes to us year over year. Some of the larger companies have come to us on the same dates,” he told BusinessWest. “It also really depends on how the holidays fall. Christmas falls in the middle of the week this year, so it’s a little different.”

Edison Yee, principal managing partner of the Bean Restaurant Group, which boasts more than a dozen establishments, ranging from quick service to fast casual to more upscale, said the holiday season is an exciting time of the year for the company.

“We began planning months ago; for most restaurants, it’s the busiest time of the year,” he said, noting that the Student Prince, on Fort Street in Springfield, and the Boathouse, on the Connecticut River in South Hadley, do most of the function-type business, and holiday bookings start coming in during the summer.

“Christmastime on Fort Street is very, very festive. It’s decorated — we have great new decorations this year — and we have the Fort carolers, which are always a smash hit. People come back, families come back, businesses come back year after year for the festivities. With the traditions of Fort Street, it’s a great time to be there.

“At the Boathouse, it’s usually the same — that’s a function house as well, with ample room,” Yee explained. “They both do great business over the holidays, and we have Christmas with Santa at both locations.”

In short, it’s a busy time, he said. “The other restaurants are busy as well, but they don’t do so much the big functions of 300, 400, or 500 people because they don’t have the room. They do have a lot of smaller functions throughout the holidays, though. Right after Black Friday, everything kicks off.”

Slow Climb Back

The pandemic four years ago crushed the holiday-party season, and 2021 started a slow climb back, but a national survey conducted toward the end of 2023 suggested that companies are clamoring once again to celebrate the holidays with their teams in-person.

According to survey results from global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., 64.4% of companies reported having in-person holiday parties in 2023, up from 57% who reported the same in 2022 and 27% who held in-person parties in 2021. It marked the highest percentage of companies holding in-person holiday parties since 75% of companies reported they held parties in 2019.

Local restaurant leaders like Corduff and Yee hope that trend continues, though only time will tell.

“We have quite a few that are post-holiday,” Corduff said. “It brightens up the winter. We see them probably until the end of January, even.”

Such a choice makes sense for businesses with a heavy end-of-year load, but it makes life easier on many fronts regardless of the company, he pointed out.

“If you do it early or you do it late, you have a little bit more flexibility. Sometimes the space can be more grandiose, and usually other vendors are more available — a DJ is not as busy in late January. So it’s not just us as a venue, but the availability of any vendor. A company can probably get a better deal and maybe do more for their customers or staff or whoever they’re trying to entertain.”

Edison Yee

“Times are challenging now for restaurants. Food inflation and wage inflation and insurance costs have escalated. So it’s important to be on top of it.”

Yee said restaurant workers are among the groups who might want to get past the holidays to celebrate, adding that November and December are certainly much busier for parties across the Bean Group than January.

Corduff said the Log Cabin has found much success with large holiday parties that many small businesses attend, with a variety of price points.

“At the public holiday parties, you can have a hairdressing salon with a table of lawyers and a mechanic shop down the street, all intermingling and having a great time. It’s an economic way for businesses to take people out to a big Christmas party.

“You might have a small, more intimate event at the Delaney House, whether it’s 8, 10, 16, 20 people,” he went on. “Usually in that environment, it tends to be more about the dining experience, whereas, at some of the group holiday parties, we have the entertainment built in. Whether it’s comedy or a DJ and dancing, food and wine pairings, you have a wide variety of options there. We’re always trying to think outside the box to keep it fresh and stay creative and have a good time with it.”

One trend Corduff has noticed is that people are going out to eat, and planning events, a little earlier in the evening than before.

“I think it’s not just a Western Mass. thing, but a lot of restaurants are seeing 9 o’clock at night and the restaurant’s empty. Some of the restaurateurs that I talk to in Springfield say, ‘we used to have 9 o’clock reservations; we don’t anymore. You know, 8:30 is our last reservation these days.’ So either people are going to bed earlier, or who knows what it is, but the trend has shifted to an earlier dining slot.”

Back to Normal

As for the restaurant business is general, Yee said the gradual fade of the pandemic saw a rush of people tired of staying indoors.

“They wanted to go celebrate, and finally, they could do that. And now things have kind of leveled off for a more normal holiday.”

Corduff agreed. “COVID has still been around, unfortunately. But I think people are just getting on with their lives. If you’re sick, you stay in bed. Don’t go out. If you have the flu, you do the same exact thing.

“But I do think people are going out, having a good time; people aren’t as fearful as they were, and it’s showing in the numbers of people going out,” he added. “The group holiday parties were non-existent post-COVID. If a hairdressing salon was having a party, they probably had it at their shop. And we saw a lot of catering business post-COVID; we survived off those catering parties. So we still do it.”

Yee said he’s happy to see things returning to normalcy.

“We have restaurants throughout Western Mass. and Northern Connecticut, and overall, we’re up a small percentage, about 4%. I’m hearing mixed signals from different restaurateurs; some are up, some are down. For us, we like to say we have pockets or different regions that are stronger than others.”

For example, the Connecticut eateries have been fairly strong. “The quick service has been a little bit weaker overall. Our casual dining has been strong. Elevated dining is a little flat.”

That said, “times are challenging now for restaurants,” Yee said. “Food inflation and wage inflation and insurance costs have escalated. So it’s important to be on top of it. We think we’re in a good place.”

With a busy holiday season ahead to bring the cheer — and the business.