It did not take long for last Saturday’s Hunter Ice Festival sculptures to turn to puddles, due to abnormal winter temperatures that reached into the 60s.
But for downtown business owners, sales were also hot, as more than 10,000 people poured into the Niles downtown to enjoy the festival.
Niles Main Street Downtown Development Authority Director Lisa Croteau said that while attendance numbers were only about half of what they normally reach, the chance to show off the downtown Niles area was not lost.
“That is the goal of the festival, to get people to know our businesses,” Croteau said.
The Main Street DDA distributed a survey to 21 downtown business owners asking them if festival presence helps to increase sales. Fourteen businesses responded and all said that the festival does draw business and help to increase sales. At least 46 percent of the businesses said that sales increased by more than 100 percent, according to Croteau.
Jim Morris, of Jim’s Smokin’ Cafe opened his new restaurant the Paris Soda Co. at 220 E. Main St. on Friday of the Hunter Ice Festival. Throughout the festival, crowds of people visited the new restaurant.
“It is the busiest I have been since I have had a restaurant in three years,” Morris said. “[It was] above expectations.”
The Main Street Book Store, 223 N. Fourth St. also saw large crowds during the festival. The store opened for a preview during the festival. The proceeds from book sales will help to fund the Main Street DDA.
According to Croteau, $1,700 was made in sales and with the average book going at a price of $1.50 — many books found new homes.
In the past several months, the downtown area has seen several new businesses fill storefronts. Croteau said she believes this helped to contribute to the crowds of people.
At least 50 volunteers dedicated their time throughout the festival, selling Hunter Ice Cream and running the warming stations.
This year, 510 gallons of ice cream sold, Croteau said. After running out of ice cream last year, more was purchased, leaving some leftovers this time around.
Through the 13 years that the ice festival has been around, Croteau said there have been many different types of weather during the festival, from rain and snow to this year’s sunshine and 60-degree weather. Each weather variety has brought a lesson as to how to make things better for the year to come.
This year, Croteau expressed gratitude to the hard work of ice festival crews who worked to make the sculptures last as long as possible. To help preserve the ice, the sculptures were set up around downtown at 4 a.m., while other sculptures were added to the display through out the day.
Rain, shine or sunshine, Croteau said that she looks forward to next year’s festivals.
“I do think that people were excited to see what is going on down here,” Croteau said. “We are really looking forward to next year.”