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Idol Leaves Behind Good News For Local Businesses

Posted: 1:12 PM Aug 18, 2012
Reporter: Brett Baldeck

Idol Leaves Behind Good News For Local Businesses

The American Idol bus has packed up and left town, but not before leaving behind some good news for local businesses.

All is quiet and business is returning to normal at Fountain Square after thousands of American Idol fans packed the park for auditions Friday.

Businesses on the square had weeks of notice that American Idol was coming and hoped to take full advantage of the crowds.

Liz Bernard says the auditions were staged right outside her store, which caused people to buy.

"I had kinda geared up for more passer by, people mingling, but we actually had a lot of people actually purchase merchandise so that's always good," says Bernhard.

Some not so typical merchants also took advantage.

Bella ME Salon offered wax and haircut specials and changed their business strategy for the day by selling cold drinks to lure in customers.

"We wanted to bring crowds toward our building too, to kinda look, so when you are selling something outside it made people walk up and then they walked in so that was our main goal as to why we started doing that," says Meta White.

While a lot of those at the square were from out of town, local merchants found that some of Bowling Greens own were discovering downtown for the first time.

"A lot of people came down here that didn't even know the square existed. I guess a lot of people are familiar with the Corvette Museum and Scottsville Road, Greenwood Mall area, but a lot of people just don't remember that there is a downtown area with a lot of historic places," says Stephen Parks, Manager of Candle Makers on the Square.

And businesses may have been pleased with Friday's crowds but many say despite idol being gone they still want people to head downtown.

Many merchants also believe that the revitalization efforts in recent years is the reason American Idol picked auditions to be held in Downtown Bowling Green.