Many downtown Denver restaurant and kiosk owners described business as slower than usual Monday, dashing hopes of a sales bonanza from the convention.
Chad Atherton, co-owner of Thunderbird Burger and BBQ, sent five workers home at 12:30 p.m. after realizing the rush he had hoped for would not materialize.
Thunderbird, located on Blake between 15th and 16th Streets, lost its regular customers from Auraria campus, which is closed, and didn’t get enough new customers to make up for that, he said.
What was especially irksome was to have so many people pass by and so few spend their money, retailers said.
“They go up and down Market street, but they don’t stop,” said Azo Babjanyan, lifting the lid on a tub filled with grilled brats waiting to be eaten.
