U.S. Open Provides Opportunity To Showcase Ardmore
By Brad Segall
ARDMORE, Pa. (CBS) - The U.S. Open gets underway a week from Monday at Merion Golf Club in Delaware County and area businesses are gearing up for an expected increase in the number of people coming to the area.
The Ardmore business community has been preparing for this for several months getting ready to showcase the stores and restaurants in and around the golf course in Haverford Township. Banners have been going up and landscaping has been spruced up to give the area a fresh look.
While most visitors will be shuttled to the course and will likely stay there, many others are expected to grab a bite to eat and shop in Ardmore.
Christine Vilardo, executive director of Ardmore Initiative says, "We're looking toward folks who are visiting the Open or are working at the Open who live in the greater Philadelphia area who may not know the town who will then come back."
Vilardo expects the restaurants to see more business than the retailers.
"We have close to fifty restaurants from quick pizza to fine dining, so there are plenty of places in town for folks to (you know) if one place is full or busy -- there are certainly lots of other options."
Since cell phones won't be allowed on the golf course, they've produced a pocket guide that will be given out in the hospitality and volunteer tents. The guides include information about ways to get around and maps of the downtown area. They also hope to showcase Ardmore during the tournament so people come back.
