Magic Wings aflutter with success

2 million visitors, 2 decades later, new owners sought

By C ORI U RBAN Special to The Republican

about butterflies: They are colorful. They are quiet. They flutter about.

For more than 20 years, Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory & Gardens in Deerfield has been hosting visitors who delight to see butterflies from throughout the world.

“I think Magic Wings has been successful for so many years because people love butterflies and nature in general,” said Kathy A. Fiore, general manager and co-owner. “You would literally have to take a trip around the world to see all of the different creatures we have here. Whether it is Janu- ary or July, you will also find an amazing tropical ecosystem at Magic Wings.”

She noted that there are a handful of butterfly conservatories in the United States, but Magic Wings has more butterflies per square foot than any other.

Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory & Gardens opened in 2000. Today, it has an 18,400-square-foot facility that includes an 8,000-squarefoot glass conservatory filled with butterflies, moths and tropical vegetation.

There are some 4,000 butterflies of all colors, shapes, sizes and varieties. Seventy percent of the butterflies are propagated on-site, while 30% are imported from outside livestock providers.

“When people enter the conservatory, there are many different reactions. Some people tear up, some people are mesmerized, some people the marina in 1959 simply because Luke senior’s friends had boats and he created a ramp for them to access the waterfront.

Pretty quickly, the ramp became popular, so the brothers built a snack bar that their mother ran. Then, Luke acquired an Evinrude franchise and began selling boats. That upgrade required him to travel by bus to Milwaukee and stay at a YMCA for two weeks to learn how to repair boat motors.

“My father, being a mason, was built like a block wall—solid and stocky. I always tell people he was a mason by trade, a boat guy by time and a farmer at heart,” his son says.

The marina became quite popular in the 1960s. “People were discovering boating, and we had Westover Air Force Base close by,” Luke Brunelle says, “and, the river became the playground for the active base.”

Over time, the snack bar evolved into a restaurant. The building that housed it grew to also include a boat repair shop and showroom. The space redeveloped after the 2013 fire holds a larger shop and showroom as well as a restaurant that now seats 300. The eatery is leased and operated by the

Rondeau and Yee families that once ran the Hu Ke Lau in Chicopee.

Brunelle says the building was built so it can be expanded upwards. He is currently working on plans for the next phase: creating a venue for weddings, anniversaries and business meetings.

“We want to share the river view with the valley,” he says.

The Lady Bea, a riverboat that can take groups out on the Connecticut River, was an idea Luke junior floated in 2003 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the town of South Hadley. Initially, it was called the Spirit of South Hadley, but Brunelle had to change the name after learning the “Spirit” reference was registered to someone else.

This year marks the 20th anniversary for Lady Bea, and she has been a driver of business as well.

“People had no idea about the river until they took a ride on the Lady Bea,” Brunelle says. “Many ended up buying boats and getting into boating.”

Perseverance, location and the ability to adapt to a changing market are the key reasons Brunelle’s has thrived and survived. “The diversity of the location as well,” Brunelle says. “We have a lot to offer.”

And the business keeps offering more. New in recent years are opportunities to paddle board, kayak or bicycle with a pontoon bike at Brunelle’s through paddlen party.com. And, Brunelle has signed on with freedom boatclub.com, through which people can pay a one-time membership fee and a monthly fee to have access to a boat 247, at over 300 locations.

Someday, the family business may become simply a local business. Luke Brunelle is an only child, and his younger

Bradley

CONTINUES FROM PAGE M10 fees, the facility now hosts auto-rental counters and covered parking, eliminating the need for people to ride shuttles to pick up rental cars and providing more space for travelers to leave their cars.

Today, the center provides passengers with direct access to their rental cars.

“Both have been well received and I think are working very well,” Dillon said.

The airport is working with the Connecticut Department of Transportation to enhance transit service to the ground transportation facility with more bus service and route maps with real-time bus information.

“The ultimate thing that we are trying to do, although it is years off, is to bring a light-rail connection into that facility,” he said.

Construction projects are still in the offing.

Workers began in January installing new scanning equipment at the Bradley security checkpoint on behalf of the Transportation Security Administration. The new Analogic Mid-Size Computed Tomography (CT) scanners are part of a national upgrade by the TSA of its equipment.

Bradley also begins work this spring on a $185 million checked baggage screening facility on the airport grounds.

Bradley is one of the few remaining airports that still requires passengers to carry their own checked bags from the ticket counter to large screening machines in the ticketing area. This creates congestion and disruption to the passenger experience.

It also takes up space Bradley would rather convert into a new ticket counter and queuing space.

Using conveyors, Bradley will move the checked baggage screening process move out of the passenger check-in area, Dillon said.

There is also a $54 million rehab that will change the way people circulate through the terminal.

“What we are trying to do is forestall the need for a new terminal,” he said. “We want to be able to accommodate growth, but put off building a new terminal for as long as we can into the future.”

A new terminal would cost $1 billion or more.

Startup Breeze Airways announced in April 2022 that Bradley would be a hub in its expanding network. Breeze promised to create more than 200 new jobs and add eight new nonstop destinations for a total of 12 cities served from Bradley.

On Tuesday Breeze and the Connecticut Airport Authority announced four new flights from Hartford-Springfield beginning in May. The flights are nonstop service to Fort Myers and to Tampa, Florida, and to New Orleans, as well as one-stop/no plane change flights to Los Angeles.

With this announcement, Breeze has surpassed its original goal and will connect nonstop to 14 destinations. daughter, Madeleine, who worked in the business with him, has moved to South Carolina to work in shipping. Middle son, Evan, passed away in recent years, and the oldest, Tiffany, runs her own hardscape business.

The other destinations, in addition to the ones announced Tuesday, are: Vero Beach, Florida; Phoenix; and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Jacksonville, Florida, Las Vegas; Norfolk, Virginia; Pittsburgh; Richmond, Virginia; Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida; and Savannah, Georgia.

Along with the one-stop flights to Los Angeles announced Tuesday the airline offers one-stop/no plane change service to Orlando, Florida, and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“They’ve been a real bright spot in terms of adding new locations,” Dillon said.

In December, Spirit Airlines started new nonstop service to Montego Bay, Jamaica.

The flights will be yearround, four times weekly. This is the first time Bradley has offered a nonstop flight to Jamaica. “That is something we’ve been after for a long, long time here at Bradley,” Dillon said.

There are a high number of Jamaicans living in Connecticut. Gov. Ned Lamont and Connecticut lawmakers included an allocation of $2 million in the state budget for the service.

In the meantime, Luke Brunelle keeps himself plenty busy. COVID brought a huge boon to the boating industry, but that rise has leveled off.

“We’re starting to turn the corner and go the other way,” he says. “I’ve seen some people who bought boats during the pandemic starting to get out of boating.”

Brunelle is a steadfast river enthusiast. He assists with channel marking each year, is a past president of the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association and a lover of the Connecticut River.

“It’s a beautiful location,” he says, adding that the developer who rebuilt the marina building in 2013 lives in Westfield and didn’t know boating existed on the river until he worked at Brunelle’s. “He fell in love with the river and owns a couple of boats now.

He adds, “The river, for many years in the ’70s, was known as a dirty place. Now people are realizing it’s really clean and we’re a grade below drinking water. Above the Holyoke dam, there are nice, sandy beaches. It’s a hidden secret. Come enjoy.”

“Last season gave us a lot of momentum for what we’re doing now. And the people have been behind us,” Thunderbirds president Nathan Costa said. In the 2021-22 season, the Thunderbirds captured the imagination of the local sporting public. Not only did they reach the Calder Cup Finals for the first time in 31 years, they finished 12th among 31 AHL teams in attendance, even as one of the smallest markets in the league.

Capacity crowds were frequent and, as the playoffs continued, were the rule. For the final five home games, there wasn’t an empty seat at the MassMutual Center.

Seizing the momentum, the team’s sales and marketing staff launched its 2022-23 ticket campaign. The result was a foundation of more than 1,400 season ticket packages, about 400 above the 2021-22 total — and four times the level of 355 they inherited when the Portland, Maine, franchise was moved to Springfield as the Thunderbirds in 2016.

Counting partial packages, more than 2,000 ticket plans have been sold.

That’s not all the team has been able to accomplish.

“We’re getting back out in the community, which we could not do during the COVID-19 pandemic. We had players make more than 50 personal appearances by the end of December alone, and they’re excited to do it,” Costa said.

“Coming out of COVID-19, we didn’t know what to expect. We hadn’t been able to do group sales. Now those are back, too,” he said.

Their team’s community commitment continues to grow. The Thunderbirds are involved in a “Stick to Reading” program with many local schools.

They also collected and distributed 6,000 teddy bears during the Christmas season.

The public has responded in kind.

Minor league teams play most of their games on weekends, but the Thunderbirds play some Wednesday night home games as well.

That was once a brutal night for attendance, but on Dec. 28, they drew 6,475 fans for a 7-4 win over Hartford. “That was the best Wednesday night regular season crowd we’ve had since the team came here — by far,” Costa said.

“We had some things going for us. We staged a youth hockey jamboree during the day and tickets were sold. We were playing Hartford, always a good draw, and it was school vacation week.

“But all of that was part of our strategic plan, too,” he said.

Costa says the team is grateful for the support of MGM Springfield, a major sponsor for events ranging from a Friday night concert series and having live music to providing free parking for fans — a godsend at a time the downtown parking garage is closed and being replaced by a modern facility.

Costa said the casino’s support goes beyond the parking, though.

“It’s a symbiotic relationship that has really helped us. MGM is our biggest partner, and we’re involved with them in a lot of projects,” he said.

“Their connection with entertainment goes hand-in-hand with us. They don’t have to do what they do, but with everything we do, we try to include MGM. They’re a true partner, which is necessary (for a franchise) at this level, and I don’t know how we would have done what we’ve done without them,” Costa said.

He cited the team’s hosting of the 2019 AHL All-Star Classic as an example.

“We’re happy to do what we do. It’s incredible that (in 2016), we almost lost hockey here altogether,” says Beth Ward, MGM Springfield community affairs manager.

“(MGM Springfield) knew we couldn’t afford to have the MassMutual Center go dark 40 nights a year. We’ve been proud to help, from the Opening Weekend block party to our other partnerships with the Thunderbirds,” Ward said.

On the ice, the Thunderbirds dealt with an unusually high number of key injuries. Unlike 2021-22, when they began the season with a long winning streak, they did well just to keep their record around .500, which makes a late-season playoff surge possible.

Costa says winning always helps, but the sales and marketing staff knows that’s something it cannot control.

“We’ve established ourselves in the team as a team that knows how to promote. We’re always going to do our job on the marketing side, to make this a great fun and family experience,” he said.

The results are tangible. The first three months of the season are the most difficult to sell, but Springfield’s home attendance average of 5,886 was 11th in the AHL — one slot higher than in 2021-22 — and nearly 500 per game ahead of the previous year’s 5,375.

The attendance level was 86.64% of capacity for the MassMutual Center, which holds 6,793 for hockey. Among the top 13 AHL teams in total attendance, that was the highest percent toward capacity.

The 2021-22 season firmly established Springfield as a model for others. The city that is home to AHL headquarters, but which nearly lost its franchise until local investors purchased the Portland club in 2016, was named “Team of the Year” by the league Board of Governors.

The prestigious award takes into account on-ice performance but also sales, marketing, community involvement and other factors.

The Thunderbirds continue to draw large crowds, despite the transition in downtown parking availability that leaves the MassMutual Center without a main garage. A new parking garage is under construction, but in the meantime Costa is grateful that fans are willing to find alternative parking sources to support their team.

“People feel safe downtown. That’s a big change in attitude from a few years ago,” he said.

“The parking situation hasn’t hurt our attendance, and we appreciate our fans for that,” Costa said.

The team continues to enjoy its affiliation with the St. Louis Blues, its National Hockey League affiliate. Costa said the Blues prioritize putting a competitive team on the ice, giving players a winning environment and a chance to compete in important games.

“I’m a firm believer that those experiences help players when they get to the next level (the NHL), and a number of our players have shown that with the Blues,” he said.

The team captain is Tommy Cross, a 33-year-old defenseman from Simsbury, Connecticut, who wanted to play near his home.

“I couldn’t ask for a better captain. Not only is he a good player, but he’s a leader in the locker room and understands the importance of being involved in the community,” Costa said.

“That attitude permeates to the group as a whole.” laugh,” Fiore said. “Many people believe that butterflies represent growth and change and connect with them in memory of a loved one — ‘When butterflies are near, angels are here.’”

The Thunderbirds are preparing for another playoff run, but the off-ice questions have long been answered. The city’s AHL hockey team, so much a part of Springfield’s fabric since 1936, is here to stay — and beyond that, poised for a major role in the growth of a downtown, city and region that has rallied to support it.

Magic Wings is open to the public year-round and welcomes about 90,000 visitors annually. The sun shines through the glass walls and heats up the conservatory to an 80-degree, tropical-like environment all year. There is a heart-shaped pond with Japanese koi at the center of the conservatory.

There also are exhibits and a display area with videos and exhibits about the history and evolution of butterflies.

Magic Wings has about 10 fulltime and 10 part-time employees. Summer can bring three or four more part-timers.

“Over the past 22 years, we have had generations of families visit us. Many families make it a yearly stop. We try to introduce new and different creatures for people to enjoy,” Fiore said.

In accordance with the state’s COVID-19 regulations, Magic Wings closed its doors to the public on March 17, 2020, and reopened as allowed, fully reopening as of June 8, 2021.

During the shutdown, Magic Wings operated with a core staff of seven employees to maintain the butterfly conservatory and greenhouses.

In order to generate income during the closure, the business utilized its online shopping option on its website magicwings. com; customers placed more than 1,000 orders through the website during the closure.

More than 2 million people have visited Magic Wings over the course of its history. But now Fiore and her brother, George Miller, are searching for new owners to take Magic Wings into the future. “Magic Wings’ future is a bright one,” she said.

The business includes a gift shop, food court and several function rooms for hosting weddings, showers, parties and other special events.

Rick’s Auto Body has been located at 375 Pasco Road in Springfield since 1997.

Rick’s

out of a shop on Verge Street then and was embroiled in conflict with insurance providers over reimbursements.

His response to the conflict was the creation of one hand-painted billboard. It featured a blue 1957 Chevrolet with the words, “Classic Quality. Lifetime Warranty.” Recor also ran a full-page advertisement in the Sunday Republican to address the insurance issue and his position on it.

The messaging propelled Rick’s to instant popularity. Over time, the business released new messaging frequently, and at one time, had 25 billboards from Springfield to West Springfield to Ludlow.

Recor came up with some of the one-liners and also ran contests and offered cash awards for cleverness, like:

“We fixed Abe’s Lincoln.”

“Love me fender.” (Complete with a caricature of Elvis.)

And most recently, “Make America Gracious Again,” a popular one.

Along with the telephone number that Recor secured — 413-543-DENT, the billboards set the auto body shop apart.

Says Recor, “The phone began to ring. To this day, 30 years later, people still talk about our billboards.”

Rick’s Auto Body has been located at 375 Pasco Road in Springfield since 1997. “I’m still here every day, morning ’til night,” he says. “It’s not absentee ownership.”

Rick’s has roughly 50 bays for repairs within nearly 45,000 square feet of space and repairs over 3,000 vehicles each year.

Recor and Rick’s wife and co-owner, Mari Tarpinian, are especially proud and grateful for their 49 loyal employees, many of whom were once interns from Putnam Vocational Technical Academy. After being hired, many of these students were promoted over time into management and leadership roles.

Tarpinian, adds, “We have the best employees.”

Recor says, “We have been blessed with the finest management team—the heart and soul of Rick’s. Mike Haniffy, our production manager; Chuck Laprade, our operations manager; and Susan Tarpinian, our office manager, share a combined tenure of over 75 years here.”

Recor’s interns aren’t much older than he was when he got started in the business at 18. The Ludlow native quit school in the 10th grade and learned the trade, working alongside his father in a business someone else owned. In 1969, Recor went to work for other industry professionals in Springfield, opening his own place in 1972.

That first shop, in Chicopee, was modest, with one bay and a dirt floor. “I had to wet the dirt and hose it down and walk around carefully so I didn’t splash the mud up on the car while I was painting,” Recor recalls.

In 1973, Rick’s moved to a six-bay shop, but a fire in 1978 deemed it was a total loss. He soon acquired the 10-bay shop on Verge Street and started over.

Back then, Tarpinian says, it was a male-dominated business. Men came in with their wives’, sisters’ or daughters’ vehicles. “It’s not like that anymore,” she says. This, in part because Rick’s made an intentional effort to make women feel welcome and comfortable.

Recor says his customers range in age from 16 to 99.

“The demographics of our customers is huge,” he adds.

Rick’s is certified in 13 vehicle brands, Mercedes-Benz among them, and these vehicles require specialized tools, equipment and training. “We really feel as though we are an asset to our community,” Recor says. “We’re here, doing a service for people, assisting them to navigate through the repair process. We take our customer service very seriously and always have. We’re one shop, under one roof. We’re really proud of that.”

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Business: Rick’s Auto Body

Where: 375 Pasco Road, Springfield

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co-owner, noted when it comes to staffing, “We have a good core of people. I tell them when I win the Megabucks, they will all be millionaires.”

That doesn’t mean Tucker’s hasn’t faced issues with staffing, especially. “Karen has reached high and low at times for help, even calling workers from two years ago who are still loyal to help in a pinch, or even her matron of honor,” Michael Anderson said.

Mendiola said he’s seeing staffing issues being resolved with the passage of time.

“I have my best kitchen since 2018,” he said. “Six months ago, I took out ads at several different times to recruit servers and other workers, and no one applied. Now people are coming in and looking for a job and leaving their phone numbers. I have a decent staff now to meet our volume of customers, but I will hire if we get busier.”

At Table 3, Gonya said staffing has been “a continued fight,” but notes it has eased up somewhat. “The front of house is easier to manage and to attract servers compared to the kitchen,” he said. To deal with staffing shortages, many restaurants have reduced their operating hours. According to a recent report from Datassential, restaurants nationwide have trimmed their hours by 7.5% or 6.4 hours compared to pre-pandemic schedules.

Tucker’s once offered lunch from Tuesday through Saturday, but to deal with staffing issues, lunch is only offered on Thursdays and Fridays, Karen Anderson said.

Gonya says Table 3 looked at operating hours as a means to address its issues with staffing.

“We found that one thing that helped us with labor costs and the shortage of workers was flipping to opening five days instead of six. We were able by doing that to maintain a healthy sales level ... but it only works if sales remain strong,” Gonya said.

According to the National Restaurant Association, food and labor costs are the two most significant line items for a restaurant, each accounting for approximately 33 cents of every dollar in sales. Other expenses — such as utilities, occupancy, supplies, general-administrative and repairs-maintenance — combine to represent about 29% of sales. Supply chain issues, which remain a challenge for some, have also eased up for Mendiola. He said he finds it easier now when he goes to Restaurant Depot to get avocados — which at one time were in short supply — and other products and needed items to run his restaurants.

“There are enough suppliers to find the items I want. However, I’ve had difficulty getting the brands of liquor I want from my supplier,” Michael Anderson said.

For Table 3 Restaurant Group, 2022 was a year of improving supply chain issues.

“It wasn’t pothole free and from time to time there was difficulty getting an item or two,” Gonya explained. “We are a sizable restaurant group with our different operations and the ability to keep ourselves supplied took a little more work, but we were able to do it.”

At Tucker’s, the Andersons revamped the menu in October to address rising food prices.

“My wife and I go out to dinner ourselves and notice menu prices are up, but we understand,” Michael Anderson said. “For the most part, I think customers are coming around. They are beginning to understand what is going on.”

“I had a banquet customer the other day who looked at the prices and I had to remind them that we are paying higher prices, too. I tell them, ‘This is actually reasonable, have you been to the grocery store lately?’”

Karen Anderson said.

Mendiola said he, too, raised some menu prices in October at Frontera Grill.

“You have to raise prices fairly so people don’t get scared and not come back. But I do think they realize that grocery prices are higher,” he said. “For us, everything has gone up, in some cases 400%, not just the cost of food, but straws, paper bags, everything. For example, at one point I was buying chicken at $42 per case, now it is $162. It helps to also minimize waste in the kitchen. Despite everything, our meals are fresh and portions are the same.”

Gonya called it “a balancing act” which doesn’t always result in raising prices and can keep costs down.

“You do what is called menu engineering. If there is an item that you just can’t have on the menu because it doesn’t present good value to the customer, then you replace it with something else,” he explained. “You also have to look at consolidating your purchases with larger vendors to take advantage of incentives. For us, it takes looking at our entire organization ... where we can share synergies ... to waste less and utilize similar products across our operations on different menu items,” he said about keeping prices down for the customer.

Also, outdoor dining, a popular alternative for customers during the height of the pandemic when indoor dining wasn’t available, has taken a different turn for some restaurants.

Mendiola ended outdoor dining at his Chicopee restaurant as customers returned to indoor dining. If he had kept tables outdoors, the city wanted him to add more parking spaces, which wasn’t viable.

“Outdoor dining served its purpose when that is all that you could do. It wasn’t realistic for us because it was in the back of the restaurant on pavement where no one could see it,” added Michael Anderson. “Also, when it was really hot, no one wanted to sit outdoors.” Some restaurateurs are being a little imaginative to get diners through the doors.

At Tucker’s, the Andersons’ daughter, Payton, a college student, put together what they called an “envelope program.” Customers who dined at the restaurant during December received an envelope that said “Do Not Open.”

“The idea was they would have to come back in January, open the envelope in front of the waitress, and inside they would find something for a free appetizer, free dessert, or even 20% off their bill,” Michael Anderson said. At the state association, the view ahead into 2023 is a positive one:

“Operators are optimistic that the restaurant industry will continue to come back in 2023,” said Clark. “There is always the question of a recession and its impact, but for right now consumers continue to spend at restaurants even with prices up. Will that last forever? That’s the unknown question.”

Mendioloa remains one of the very optimistic operators who has always been bullish on the restaurant industry. He’s ready to make his next move.

“Everyone has to eat, and I’m trying to be positive about the market, so much so that I’m thinking about looking for another location to open my next restaurant,” he said.