Java Cow Manager Rebecca Williams has worked at Main Street businesses during Sundance for over a decade.
Williams said the customer base from the annual two-week festival has declined in recent years, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It literally used to be all day, every day. You’d get to know the people because they were waiting in that line that was out the door every single day,” Williams said. “And then it started to be just the first weekend, just the second weekend, and we saw the middle of the week die... for the past six, seven years or so, it’s been Tuesday, Wednesday - everybody’s gone, which is crazy.”
Williams said Java Cow’s revenue was significantly down the past weekend compared to the same period in years past.
Park City made Main Street pedestrian-only during the first five days of Sundance due to public safety reasons.
Williams said she couldn’t attribute the drop in business to the loss of car traffic, but said it caused some delivery troubles.
“We recognize there were impacts to deliveries during the closure, but the police department took extraordinary measures to facilitate all deliveries as needed,” Park City Police Chief Wade Carpenter told KPCW. “At times, delivery drivers were escorted to their delivery locations to meet their deadlines.”
Carpenter made the decision to close Main Street after consulting with local, state and federal law enforcement.
“I want to thank everyone — especially our residents and small businesses for their patience while we took the necessary precautions to ensure the public’s safety during the opening days of the festival,” the police chief said. “Also, thank you to our officers and city team members who rose to the occasion and continue to ensure the festival is a success as it continues. While we knew there would be real impacts to business and deliveries – the outcome was clear – we had a safe opening weekend.”
Festivalgoers told KPCW they enjoyed the pedestrian-only experience on Main Street, which is normally packed with cars during Sundance.
The manager of Park City Desserts & Coffee said business was strong, despite similar delivery issues after Main Street shut down to traffic around noon each day. She said customers were happy about the pedestrian experience and she’s open to the city doing it in the future.
Farther up the street is Sock City, a retail store selling a wide-variety of novelty socks.
Manager Scott Petty has worked at the store during Sundance since 2015. He said he saw a slowdown this year.
“I don’t know if that’s directly correlated to the pedestrian walkway approach. Ever since they opened back up after COVID, it has been a little slower for us," Petty said. “My initial impression is the pedestrian walkway idea, though I personally enjoyed it, it wasn’t as helpful for business. I feel like it funneled a lot of foot traffic lower down Main [Street] and because we’re so high up Main [Street], it was tough to get a lot of people in.”
Kristen Doyon grew up in Park City and is the co-owner of Flight Boutique, a retail store on Main Street downhill from 7/11.
“I don’t know if it has anything to do with the pedestrian-only move they made this year, but it was the slowest Sundance we’ve ever experienced,” Doyon said. “It seems since COVID, when we had this kind of half online, half in-person, that the festival has changed drastically.”
Doyon said her business is down 50% compared to last year’s Sundance.
“And last Sundance was the worst Sundance we’ve had on record,” she said.
The Flight Boutique co-owner said she’s not in favor of making Main Street pedestrian-only in the future.
“Parking is essential on Main Street,” Doyon said. “Losing that parking would be extremely detrimental to my business.”
At the neighboring retail store, Overland, sales associate Christy Leatham said they had a strong flow of customers during Sundance’s first weekend.
Leatham and Doyon both said they also had troubles getting deliveries with Main Street closed to vehicles.
