BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – A day after the great American eclipse, thousands of visitors have headed home, but they left a big impact on our region’s economy, and Burlington’s Church Street Marketplace was at the center of it.
Tuesday morning — a day after the excitement of the eclipse — there were still lines at Queen City restaurants that had carried over from the long eclipse weekend.
“We had a line out the door pretty much all day on Sunday and Monday. It was really crazy,” said Elise Pecor with Vermont Pub and Brewery, a boost during an otherwise slow time of year. “This was some real pre-pandemic business, if you will.”
And it wasn’t just food and drink. Retail stores felt the boost, too. “The streets were flooded, the store was popping. It was just crazy busy in here. We were really happy to see that,” said Francois Bouchett with Homeport. While the store still has all its Vermont souvenirs available — from t-shirts to maple syrup — Bouchett says all the eclipse merch is long gone. “Sold out really quickly.”
“Can we have an eclipse every weekend?” joked Kelly Devine with the Burlington Business Association. She says with the Queen City in the historic path of totality — plus some great weather — businesses cashed in. “A lot of our downtown business geared up for it. This place had the energy level that I haven’t seen in a long time.” She hopes the momentum continues into the summer and beyond. “Burlington has always been about fun. My mantra for this year is let’s bring the fun back.”
Devine estimates there were around 50,000 people in town for the eclipse. City officials say they won’t know the final economic impact of the weekend until they review the sales and gross receipts tax data, but they agree it was a great weekend.