Some businesses say they lost out as Chicagoans seemed to stay home during DNC
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Democratic National Convention brought thousands of delegates, volunteers, politicians, and delegates to Chicago—but some say Chicagoans themselves stayed home.
So what effect did the DNC have on the busy business areas that are removed from the United Center and McCormick Place? The owners and staffers of some of those businesses said they were somewhat disappointed in how it all worked out.
It's hard to know exactly how many local residents stayed home—or even left the area—to avoid convention crowds and traffic. But the fact that some businesses saw such slow sales is a sign.
"Really slow," said food truck employee Reyna Prito. "It was really slow this whole week."
Able to move around the city, Prito said their food truck business struggled during the DNC week because so much of their regular lunch crowd chose the option to work from home. The direct benefits from the flood of people from the DNC did not apply to them.
"Usually, we make about 3 to 4 grand a day, but this week, we're making about half," Prito said.
It was a similar situation for businesses in the South Loop—sometimes cut off from their regulars by DNC fencing.
"Not a lot of business," said currency exchange employee Martha Laguinilla.
"To be honest, it just slowed the businesses down all the way," said Ottinyse Brown, manager of McCormick Market, 80 E. Cermak Rd. "We lost a lot, I want to say, because our normal people wasn't showing up. They had nowhere to park. They had to walk to two, three blocks in order for them to get to the store. So yeah, it's slowed business down tremendously."
Another sign of what a relative ghost town the downtown area was during the pandemic was Metra ridership numbers.
In the first three days of the convention, Metra passenger trips never cracked 102,000.
In the first three days of the convention, Metra passenger trips never cracked 102,000. They topped out at 101,602 on Monday, 101,500 on Tuesday, and 99,802 on Wednesday.
That figure for Tuesday—typically the busiest day for Metra—was 50% lower than the six prior Tuesdays.
But some businesses did benefit.
"Just being part of the process was amazing, you know what I mean? It showed our support," said Greggory Smith, who runs the Soul & Smoke food truck with tasty barbecue and soul food offerings.
Smith was contracted by the DNC to position at the United Center.
"I was there when we were opening up the United Center, when they were setting everything up—so I was helping everybody feeding the crew there," he said.
Denita Tittle, owner of Ms. Tittle's Cupcakes food truck, said she is already seeing business pick back up.
"You know, some people were here left over from the DNC, so they came out," Tittle said.
Security fencing for the DNC was coming down Friday night, as the streetscape of Chicago returns to normal.
Organizers estimated the convention would bring up to $200 million to the area.