Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Point Park University's Student-Run Newspaper

Point Park Globe

Small businesses profit from World Festival

                                                                                                                                         photo by Ty Smith

Spectators enjoy activities at the Strip District World Festival on Penn Avenue on Sunday. Multi-­cultural themed food vendors, local artists, games and giveaways were present at the annual celebration.

Penn Avenue was filled with people: Couples holding hands, vendors expecting customers to buy their products, mothers pushing children in strollers and men wandering aimlessly. The air smelled of freshly prepared food and an accordionist played tunes that made you feel as if you were walking the streets of Italy.

Over the past weekend the Strip District buzzed with live entertainment, food and fun during its second annual World Festival. Spanning from 22nd Street to 27th Street along Penn Avenue, the festival boasted a variety of cultural representation. Italy,  Ireland and more were represented, and the World Festival did more than just bridge the cultural divide.

More than ten bands and artists performed a variety of music, with the Christian Beck Band opening the festival and Max Leake & Sax closing on Sunday. Among the streets of vendors were booths upon booths of ethnic food, companies promoting their brands and services, prize wheels and even fashion trucks. With local shops open alongside the street vendors, business boomed for the Strip District.

It is no mystery that festivals and fancy events draw in more people than any typical day or weekend. Market manager of Pittsburgh Public Market Terry Doloughty said this weekend’s festival has seen a lot of traffic, especially since it was “outside our front door.”

“[We’ve] most definitely noticed an increase in business,” Doloughty said in a telephone interview Sunday afternoon. “We’ve had what you can describe as mayhem in the building. [We’ve had] over four times as many [people] as we’ve had on other Saturdays. On a normal Saturday, we see 2,000 and our counter maxed out at 5,000,” 

The market was so successful that vendors actually ran out of merchandise. Usually the market is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. This weekend, the building was booming with business, closing at 9:30 p.m. The vendors fully stocked their booths, prepared in advance to have more items available and were more than satisfied that their goods sold out. 

“I noticed a large uptick in social media. People were Facebooking and tweeting about the market,” Doloughty said. 

Melody Troutman, the manager of the Leaf & Bean coffee and cigar shop located on 22nd Street, also noticed an increase in business on Sunday.

“We may have gotten a little additional foot traffic because of [the festival]. The register results showed Sunday was better than a normal day and did improve business a little bit,” Troutman said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. “The festival brings people in that may not have come down previously.”

The Spaghetti Warehouse saw increased business as well.

“We have the closest free parking lots to the festival, so a lot of people used our lot. We had traffic before and after the festival, so people came in when they were hungry,” manager Louis Sandor said in a phone interview Monday afternoon.

Although the restaurant did not have any new items on the menu, Sandor’s staff did offer specials, and handed out coupons during the festival. The Spaghetti Warehouse “definitely increased exposure” over the culturally-infused weekend.

Though some shops and restaurants may not have seen as much traffic as others, there was still enough happening to make the people of Pittsburgh happy by experiencing a world of culture.

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