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News & Features
From the Idyllwild Town Crier weekly newspaper, 05.28.09 edition.
Holiday good for business
By Marshall Smith, Staff
Reporter
‘There was not a room in town for the entire
weekend,” said Chris Singer, Silver Pines Lodge and Creekstone Inn
owner. “I was full three nights at both places.” Singer maintains
www.idylodging.com as complimentary reservation referral service and
confirmed the sellout weekend for commercial lodging.
Frank Ferro, co-owner/manager of Café Aroma, reported a very
busy weekend. “I didn’t get to go home,” laughed Ferro. “Like Catalina
that is reporting an unexpectedly busy tourist season, we’re seeing the
same. It was an amazing weekend, very festive and fun. People are
driving instead of flying. They’re eating, buying and happy.”
Amanda Taylor, Artisans Gallery owner, mentioned tons of foot traffic.
“What I noticed is that impulse buyers are back,” she said, noting the
kinds of quick sales she hasn’t seen recently. “Another difference is a
lot of San Diego people. They’re not going as far.”
Rick Aronson, Purple Scooter owner, echoed the tons of foot traffic
comment. “Many, many people,” he said.
Gary Budnick, Gary’s Deli owner, said he set a record for sandwich
sales on Saturday. “After four months of s**t, we finally had a decent
weekend,” he laughed, clearly happy at the very busy weekend.
American Legion Post 800 Commander Danny Richardson said their Saturday
barbecue had to tap Bread Basket Owner Scott Fisher for additional cole
slaw. “We barely had enough ribs,” said Richardson, who estimated they
served more than 200. “It was busier than usual.” At the Monday
Memorial Day service, Richardson estimated 150 attendees. “We kept
putting chairs out,” he said.
Village Market Owner Art Levitt did record business over the weekend.
He also noted a big influx of tourists from San Diego. “There were a
lot of new people from San Diego,” said Levitt, “people who had in the
past taken longer vacations but came to Idyllwild instead. They seemed
very pleased with the experience here and said they would return.”
Levitt got a license to serve beer and wine at an outdoor seating and
performance area he had set up adjacent to the market. “We could seat
100 and were standing-room-only for Saturday and Sunday,” said Levitt.
“It’s the busiest we’ve been on Memorial Day in the last four years. We
also got a lot of positive feedback from locals.” Levitt featured the
Barnyard Boys from Anza on Saturday and local group Change Required on
Sunday. “The Anza band brought some Anza fans,” said Levitt, “and
Change Required brought the locals.”
Levitt, who built a stage for this event, plans to feature more outdoor
concert and food events during the summer. “The town needs this [music
and dining],” he enthused. “We’ve got to make it fun for people
to come and have a good time.”
Mountain Harvest Market owner Doug Yagaloff said the weekend “kind of
gives you a taste of what it used to be like. People have been so
depressed. We were very busy. Can we be seeing the beginning of a
summer trend?” he asked. Yagaloff said he and partner Scott Douglas had
begun seeing a business uptick in the first week of May with the
arrival of Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) hikers. “We saw a lot more hikers
than last year,” he said.
The uniform reports of strong business over the holiday further confirm
trends noted by the Idyllwild Area Historical Society (IAHS). IAHS
routinely records where its visitors come from. Comparing 2008 with
2005, IAHS shows that San Diego now leads in visitors to Idyllwild, and
that more people from San Diego and Los Angeles are visiting Idyllwild
than in previous years.
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