Watertown Buffalo Wild Wings

[JackJD]

New construction near I-29 - Watertown, is reportedly going to be a new Buffalo Wild Wings. When I heard that, I thought that will really confuse the heck out of some Bison fans on their way to the Summit League Tourney in Sioux Falls -- they'll stop in Watertown and think they can walk to the Arena.

[Prairiehaas]

Re: Watertown Buffalo Wild Wings

They will know right away they're not in Sioux Falls if the service is prompt.

[BTownJack]

Re: Watertown Buffalo Wild Wings

They will know right away they're not in Sioux Falls if the service is prompt.

I can agree with that. BW3's in SF is definitely known for it's terrible service.

[tjbison]

Re: Watertown Buffalo Wild Wings

BWW's food is crap so that goes along with the service, they are a dime a dozen nowadays more so than even Applebees. F-M has 3 now and they are all crap. Probably go over pretty good in Watertown though like Minot

[JackJD]

Re: Watertown Buffalo Wild Wings

BWW's food is crap so that goes along with the service, they are a dime a dozen nowadays more so than even Applebees. F-M has 3 now and they are all crap. Probably go over pretty good in Watertown though like Minot

Seems like a lot of Bison fans get very excited about going to a BWW. Aren't the franchises in this area owned by someone in Fargo? (Serious question.)

[tjbison]

Re: Watertown Buffalo Wild Wings

Seems like a lot of Bison fans get very excited about going to a BWW. Aren't the franchises in this area owned by someone in Fargo? (Serious question.)

yep, mostly because they are big NDSU supporters, just not me and yes the guy is from Moorhead who owns ND, SD and NW MN

[yoteforever]

Re: Watertown Buffalo Wild Wings

New construction near I-29 - Watertown, is reportedly going to be a new Buffalo Wild Wings. When I heard that, I thought that will really confuse the heck out of some Bison fans on their way to the Summit League Tourney in Sioux Falls -- they'll stop in Watertown and think they can walk to the Arena.

The only time I go through Watertown is when I travel to Fargo or Grand Forks, but we stayed there last fall after the NDSU game and I find Watertown to be a progressive town, at least what I could see from the Interstate area. Do you agree? Or is it only that particular area?

I was impressed.

[Nidaros]

Re: Watertown Buffalo Wild Wings

The only time I go through Watertown is when I travel to Fargo or Grand Forks, but we stayed there last fall after the NDSU game and I find Watertown to be a progressive town, at least what I could see from the Interstate area. Do you agree? Or is it only that particular area?

I was impressed.

I would agree, in terms or retail opportunities, its beats going to Brookings. Man, that was hard to type, but very true. I live in Arlington 36 miles south and 22 miles west of Brookings. When you got serious shopping and do not want to go to SF, you head north to Watertown. Watertown has always had a wide trade area, mainly because of their location. They seem to get all the rural trade to near Aberdeen and south to Brookings and even east they seem to draw trade from Minnesota. Trade from towns from the West is probably the best. I would also give credit to the Watertown Public Opinion. It covers their trade area very thorourhly.
When Arlington voted down a bond issue for street improvements, it was the lead story for the Opinion the next day. For just having a Vo Tech, and no four year college, they do very good in a number of things. I suspect Buffalo Wings will do very good in Watertown. Choosing Watertown over Brookings for a franchise was not doubt a smart move.

[JackJD]

Re: Watertown Buffalo Wild Wings

Thanks for the nice comments on Watertown, Nidaros.

Lake Area Technical Institute has more than 1400 students and has tight "articulation" agreements with SDSU...very good relationship with State. Long-time LATI Director Gary Williams (SDSU guy), now retired from LATI and serving as Watertown's mayor, is a close friend and college roommate of SDSU President Chicoine -- although the articulation agreements between SDSU and LATI pre-date Pres. Chicoine's tenure at SDSU.

I'm not sure what the 2010 census number will be for Watertown...should be a little more than 21,000. Whatever the actual number is, we'll inflate it and say things like: 'oh, it's about 23,000'

Lots of Jackrabbit fans in Watertown...sure would like to get a group going like the SDSU group in Yankton.



I have no idea why those agreements are called articulation agreements. That name suggests to me they've agreed to speak clearly.

[Jacks#1Fan]

Re: Watertown Buffalo Wild Wings

As a three-time (different times) Watertown resident, I can tell you that Watertown is a heck of a city and is getting close to being South Dakota's third largest. Nidaros is right on his comments in that Watertown has always rivaled Sioux Falls in ruling a very large trade area. Fargo, St. Cloud and Aberdeen are the closest competitors for trade. Brookings has always suffered from being smack in the middle of Watertown on the north and Sioux Falls on the south. As a result, Brookings has about a 30-mile radius for retail on the west and 15-20 miles on the north and south ends.

[JACKGUYII]

Re: Watertown Buffalo Wild Wings

I think Brookinss will eventually pass Watertown in population.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Watertown Buffalo Wild Wings

I think Brookinss will eventually pass Watertown in population.

There was an article a month or so ago that stated this. Brookings was something like 500 less census wise. Of course, a good portion (half or more) of the population of Brookings is SDSU students.

[BTownJack]

Re: Watertown Buffalo Wild Wings

There was an article a month or so ago that stated this. Brookings was something like 500 less census wise. Of course, a good portion (half or more) of the population of Brookings is SDSU students.

Does anyone know what Brookings' new census numbers are as of 2010? I haven't seen or heard anything yet.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Watertown Buffalo Wild Wings

Does anyone know what Brookings' new census numbers are as of 2010? I haven't seen or heard anything yet.

http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/...2009-04-46.csv

I found that, which is the official 2009 estimates, which is where I think the Brookings Register article I mentioned earlier got its data. If I remember the speculation correctly from the article, Brookings may actually be bigger than Watertown when the 2010 numbers come out. Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong about that Register article.

From that article:

Brookings: 20,184
Watertown: 20,350

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/46/46011.html By county the 2009 estimates:

Brookings: 30,056
Codington: 26,168

[JackJD]

Re: Watertown Buffalo Wild Wings

I've always questioned how students are counted. No doubt some are being counted twice if the college towns are counting them.

Sales tax revenues give some indication of the true size of a community and its trade area. That information is alwasy available from the STate Dept of Revenue.