Will you spend $140 on Mom?
For Jeff Raines and the staff at Montarra Grill in Algonquin, this Sunday is expected to bear a striking resemblance to Saturday night.
Mother’s Day typically is one of the busiest days of the year for restaurants, said Raines, general manager at Montarra.
“And so far, what we have [in reservations] isn’t quite a Saturday night, but it’s shaping up to be pretty close,” he said.
This Mother’s Day, though, the steakhouse will be just one among hundreds of restaurants and retailers throughout the region celebrating heavy business from patrons seeking to show mom a good time.
According to a survey published recently by marketing-research firm Big Research, the average U.S. consumer expects to spend about $139.14 this year on Mother’s Day, an increase of about $17 over last year.
In all, the research firm said Americans plan to spend $15.7 billion on flowers, cards, restaurant meals, jewelry and other items for mom.
Pat Montemurro, owner of The Wonderberry Tree, a gift store in Cary, said her business is the busiest it has been since Christmas. Around the end of March, business started picking up again, and she attributed some of it to the approach of Mother’s Day.
