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Restaurants near Chartway Arena disappointed after the Tyler, the Creator concert canceled

Tyler, the Creator
Posted at 9:34 PM, Mar 04, 2022
and last updated 2022-03-04 23:30:41-05

NORFOLK, Va. - Restaurants and businesses near the Chartway Arena tell News 3 they are disappointed after learningthe Tyler, the Creator concert was canceled at the Chartway Arena just a day before the show.

The entertainer announced the concert was canceled in a tweet on Thursday, citing staffing shortages as the reason.

"As you can see, now it’s kind of dead here," Tyler Everette, a waiter at Saka Ramen & Sushi, said.

Restaurants say they were looking forward to the large crowds.

"She called me in because of the concert, [saying] that we were going to have a crowd. When it’s a concert, we have a crowd in the lobby. But tonight, we were wondering why it’s so slow," a cashier at Zero's Subs tells News 3 reporter Leondra Head.

The cashier says it's been a quiet night.

"The concert was canceled, so I guess that’s why we didn’t have the rush tonight," the Zero's Subs cashier said.

Everette says he’s surprised to hear of possible staffing shortages at the arena.

"It definitely caught me off guard a few days before, but we’ve been able to handle every other concert. I’ve worked at this place a little bit over a year and they’ve never really canceled any big concerts like that before, especially a couple of days prior," Everette said.

Perfectly Frank’s, a hot dog shop that sits across from the arena, says they brought in extra help to support the crowds from the concert.

"I knew there was an event tonight because we had planned for the staff, but I did not know who it was," Caleb Cain, a manager at Perfectly Frank, said.

Cain says business hasn’t slowed down too much.

"It’s amazing for business. We’re usually pretty busy regularly with the students that come in regularly," he said.

News 3 did reach out to the Chartway Arena to see if there is in fact a staffing shortage but have not heard back.