BUSINESS WATCH:Fair affects local shops

During the three and a half weeks of the Orange County Fair, the Feed Barn in Costa Mesa remains a small business. It's the animals that get big.

The shop on Newport Boulevard spends most of the year selling food for cats, dogs and other typical household pets. When the fair rolls around, though, the clientele turns quite a bit heftier — thanks to the petting zoos, pony rides, livestock demonstrations and other fairground staples.

So for those few fierce weeks in July and August, manager Jenni Engelstad stocks up on alfalfa pellets, hay and other dishes fit for the trough. Sometimes, the customers are adults who run the shows; other times, they're kids who bring their prized animals to market at the fair. Either way, it adds up to solid business at the Feed Barn.

"We've been doing the fair all these years," Engelstad said. "We've been across the street all these years. So we know what these kids need."

The Feed Barn is one of the businesses in town that flourish during the fair every year. Some businesses, including restaurants, have a tough time luring customers away from the excitement across town. With people and animals descending on Costa Mesa, however, a number of service industries enjoy a boom in mid-summer.

Hotels along Newport Boulevard, located minutes from the fairgrounds, routinely fill to capacity during the fair weeks. Regina Pung, the general manager for the Ali Baba Motel, said she often housed people who worked at the fair. The steady business, she added, often prevented her from visiting the fair herself.

"My children go there," Pung said. "I'm busy. I can't go there."

This year, another type of industry may turn out a solid profit at the fair: local cab companies. Orange County's bus drivers went on strike July 7, and while one of the few remaining bus routes stops in Costa Mesa a few minutes from the fairgrounds, taxis may pick up some of the slack for visitors not willing to walk. Jack Falson of Newport Beach Yellow Cab said his company's phones began ringing steadily in the days leading up to the fair.

"We're getting some good business, about tenfold from a week ago," he said. "A lot of people are turning to the cab companies, and we're happy to help them out as best we can."