When Santa Clara business owners heard the Super Bowl was headed to the Bay Area, they were understandably excited: With tens of thousands of people swarming Levi’s Stadium for the big game, surely big profits would follow, they assumed.
As it turns out, however, sales in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl has been lackluster at some locations that were counting on a customer uptick.
Nga Huynh, the owner of Butter and Zeus, says that the foot traffic has slowed at her location.
“Businesses is a little bit down because of all the road closures,” she said. “We aren’t seeing our usual Sunday crowd.”
Like many restaurateurs, she’s keeping her eatery open late so that people leaving Super Bowl parties can come and dine.
Despite Huynh’s disappointing sales, however, the Super Bowl has met the expectations of other business owners, particularly those within a two block radius of the stadium.
“This super bowl thing is amazing,” said a cook at Dona Maria Mexican Food, where tacos were in high demand but short supply.
“We’re probably up 100 percent,” said Guillermo Prado, owner of Dona Maria’s. “Normally, business on Sunday is slow.”
