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The dome sells all, from beer to beignetsBy ERIC TORBENSON © St. Petersburg Times, published April 1, 1998 Del Bello, president of Arigato Japanese Steak House, brought his sushi restaurants from Rochester, N.Y., to the Tampa Bay area in 1978. As one of dozens of food vendors making a debut at Tropicana Field on Tuesday, he knows that straying from baseball fan favorites of hot dogs could result in a financial strikeout. "You have to take risks in life," said Del Bello, whose baseball roots run deep. He played for the New York Mets organization for two years, and relished Opening Day. "I think the fans are going to look for alternatives to the fried things out there." California rolls and tuna sushi sold quickly from the refrigerators at Arigato, located just below the oversized statue of a Devil Rays' player reaching for a fly ball. The Center Field Street area at Tropicana mirrors other new mall-like areas at many baseball stadiums. An hour before the game, shoulder-to-shoulder fans had to hold drink trays over their heads to prevent spills. Even if business doesn't soar, Del Bello thinks the name recognition should help his three other locations. Daughter Danielle and son Dale Jr. helped out after high school. "It's fun for us," Del Bello said. It seemed hard for vendors and merchandise booths not to succeed, at least for the first official game. Fans mobbed Laura and Donnie Stephens of Northeast High School at a souvenir booth near Gate 3. A portion of the sales go to the school's athletic department. First to sellout: a commemorative set of Rays pins. "They were gone in fifteen minutes," Donnie said. Gathering dust: an opening day ticket (shaped like a ray) framed in glass for $115. Snapping up every trinket in sight were fans such as Joe and Bonnie Madonia from Hudson. They had just made their third trip to their van in the stadium parking lot to drop off loads of T-shirts, banners and other Devil Rays' knickknacks. Joe, 39, had a $1 button, and waited 20 minutes in line to pay for it. Bonnie, 45, who bought the hard-to-get tickets for Joe's birthday, loved all the merchandise, except the underwear stamped with Devil Rays. "I hope they start the game before we go broke," Joe said. Maybe someday the Rays' Opening Day gear he had bought would be as valuable to him as the baseballs and autographed things from the 1968 Detroit Tigers World Series. They had spent $75 so far, and were "just getting started." Chris Bordonaro was getting revved up as well. "Gourmet cookies! Hot beignets!" he bellowed from the Alessi's Beignet Express booth to passing fans. The fried doughy pastries oozed with chocolate, Bordonaro's favorite flavor. He took a moment from hawking to cut up some fresh ones. Center Field Street boasts a cigar bar, a hair salon, a full-service First Union branch (luring customers with a generous salmon appetizer plate) and other non-traditional baseball businesses. Fans like the Madonias said they would want to poke around the stores when they came to games. At PrimeCo's baseball-shaped booth, fans quizzed sales people about directions to seats, not digital phones. The $14.99 "Primethius" doll -- a pink mascot alien used to market the phones -- was a hot seller, said manager Steve Stratos. While the baseball booth might not set sales records, the exposure for the brand name seemed worth it, especially with competitor GTE selling phone service under the left-field seats. GTE staff at the game wouldn't comment about sales. Managers for Volume Services, the concessionaire for Tropicana Field, said everything seemed to sell well early in the contest, and there were no shortages. "The exhibition games were great practice for us -- we've got it down, I think," one manager said. Rene Gispert's beer tap was issuing nothing but foam. But he wasn't too concerned, directing thirsty fans to another tap down the aisle at the Fan Favorites area. One of dozens of volunteers vending products, Gispert, of St. Petersburg, was happy to do it because his Gulfport Little League team would benefit from the sales. The league needs $40,000 to run, and money from the concessions could cover much of it. But not every business was booming. Eighteen-year-old Erin McCoy of St. Petersburg was slowly stirring kettles of warm chocolate topping for Lisa's Yogurt Shoppe, but few fans had given her a chance to dip bars into the goo. "We need to get our banner up," she said. "I don't get it -- we were so busy during the basketball games."
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ale Del Bello's big baseball bet: Devil Rays fans will pick sushi over weiners.
