A Special Background Report On Trends in Industry And Finance
BISTROS BECKON reluctant revelers to toast the new year with flat prices. Hotels, clubs and restaurants hold the line on New Year's Eve tabs in an appeal to recession-weary consumers. Some add perks such as free parking and late checkout. The Hotel del Coronado, San Diego, eyes about the same volume as last year at a $175-per-person dinner show but offers a discount room rate well into January. New York's Waldorf-Astoria drops the hefty tab on its main ballroom gala to $350 from $375, as the event won't be televised this year.</br></br>Just how much partying actually occurs remains to be seen. Wary that people "may chintz out on me this year," Paul Jaffe limits dinner at his Le Cafe Restaurant and Jazz Club, Los Angeles, to a prix fixe menu of $75 for dinner plus show. He and others aim to fill the house rather than provide a lot of unwanted costly courses. Deposits become de rigueur.</br></br>Themed events win favor. The Flamingo Resort Hotel in Santa Rosa, Calif., emulates an evening in Paris.</br></br>PETS SPAWN niche businesses, but firms must claw their way to consumers.</br></br>"City Dog," a New York newsletter about urban canines, finds the going tough in a down economy. "I was counting on giving it out for free and getting advertisers," says publisher Hilory Wagner. Instead, Ms. Wagner cut classified ad rates and sells subscriptions ($3.50 for six issues) to maintain a reader base. In Narragansett, R.I., Reggie Baker licenses rights for his Kat Kastle to nearby Natco after nearly a year of futile marketing to chain stores.