As the Kentucky Derby Gets More Expensive, Small Businesses Go After Budget Revelers

In the South Central region, which includes Kentucky, inflation reached an annual rate of 4% in March, warmer than the national average of 3.5%. Wiltshire Pantry owner Susan Hershberg said price pressures in Louisville have been “brutal,” but she suspects the expanded all-inclusive offering on the Downs has also weighed on her business.

While she used to receive 400 to 500 orders for boxed snacks every day during Derby Week, “this year I only have orders for several hundred boxes, and some people are taking them to Derby parties, not the track,” she said. she.

Prices remain the same. “The people who buy the packaged lunches are my regular customers,” Hershberg said, “and now we’re eating the difference because people can handle a limit of sticker price shock.”

Carol Hampton, owner of Pix Shoes Louisville, said her costs have also increased. She added that rival milliners buy her hats, fascinators and other accessories and sell them at a markup, but moving large volumes helps her keep prices low.

“People choose what they want to do with their money,” Hampton said. “They want to look good, they want to shine and I help them do that. I just don’t steal them.

She estimated that 150 customers visited the 50-year-old downtown store on Thursday alone and expects to sell more than 8,000 pieces of high-end hats by the end of the weekend.