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By all indications that we could find Monday, business is up a lot in the downtown area, thanks to a huge influx of visitors from around the world who are looking to see what Salt Lake has to offer.
News Specialist Sam Penrod reports.
Salt Lake City's Main Street is visibly more active than usual, and that is translating into more customers for downtown businesses.
At a pin store along Main Street, tourists are keeping workers from getting a break.
Store manager Jack Frost says, "A lot of international folks, out of state, are coming in, interested in our pins. Business has picked up a thousand percent."
Downtown restaurants say that since Friday, business is booming.
At the Market Street Grill, people are still coming in for dinner after midnight.
Restaurant manager Lonnie Foster told us, "We had probably double the influx of business that I expected. Incredible. Folks from big stars, to the general public, from all kinds of countries."
Shoppers are crowding into the Gateway at all hours of the day and night. The new mall is attracting many Olympic visitors.
One of the most popular stores has suddenly become Roots, makers of the U.S. Olympic team clothing. And the Olympic berets are temporarily sold out!
Merchandise and food vendors that have set up shop along the streets near Olympic Square are seeing almost constant customers during the day, and in the evenings long lines-- especially for food.
"There's a lot of hot chocolate, coffee, pizza, and doughnuts, is what we are selling a lot of," says vendor Roy Whipple.
Of course, all of the businesses we talked to today say they still have more room for customers and hope that local shoppers won't be discouraged from trying to come downtown.
Whether business will remain this busy over the next two weeks, remains to be seen.
