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Microcap & Penny Stocks : Rat dog micro-cap picks... -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: xcr600 who wrote (7039)	2/14/2002 10:18:02 AM
From: Bucky Katt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 48461

Business Is 'Awful' During Salt Lake Games SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - Business is so bad for merchants in the heart of Salt Lake City during the 2002 Winter Games that the mayor held a news conference on Wednesday to encourage more people to come downtown. Mayor Rocky Anderson exhorted citizens to venture into the downtown core -- for Olympic medals ceremonies and concerts, sporting events and cultural offerings -- after business people complained that foot traffic is down an estimated 30 percent compared to last February. "We had businesses that came to us and said we're not seeing the patronage that we had before the Olympics," said Joshua Ewing, a spokesman for Anderson who summarized the mayor's comments. The Olympics have been anything but a business boon, according to Tom Guinney, a partner in the Gastronomy Inc. restaurant group and a board member of the Utah Restaurant Association. "Salt Lake City is experiencing probably 30 percent of the anticipated foot traffic that we were hoping for," Guinney said in a telephone interview. "It's bad. It's bad. It's awful in the core of our city." He said the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (news - web sites) for the Olympics (SLOC) and Utah transit officials have been so concerned with getting athletes and officials to Olympic events securely and on time that they have depressed traffic in the center of the city. STREETS ARE 'EMPTY' "What the mayor couldn't say at the press conference is that our streets are significantly less impacted in Salt Lake City than they normally are ... which is another way of saying they're empty," Guinney said. Even when the downtown streets are thronged with people, as they are most evenings for Olympic medals ceremonies and concerts, many businesses that have stayed open late to capitalize on the crowds appear nearly empty. "I wouldn't be surprised if lost business to restaurants and clubs amounted to $20 million," he said. No wonder we have not seen the event driven pop expected in DYNT....