PETERSBURG, Va. -- L.L. Bean's weekend pop-up shop provided results Petersburg business owners said were better than they could have ever expected.
"I think that there was definitely some new traffic. We had a good Saturday overall," Dixie Restaurant owner Charle Rawlings said.
Across from Dixie Restaurant, Longstreet's Restaurant owner Frank Takacs echoed those sentiments.
"Very happy, very happy," Takacs said. "Saturday and Sunday weekend, we had, we had a pretty good bump in sales and it’s based on people coming to Old Towne."
Eva Bowman, the director of Mingle, was instrumental in getting L.L. Bean to the Petersburg and working all the logistics.
"When L.L. Bean reached out to host in Petersburg, I thought, what amazing interest in our city, they asked for us," Bowman said. "It was better than I could have ever imagined. The Tea was amazing, and the City was wonderful. Small businesses had Lines out the door."
And at the end of the pop-up debut was a surprise that Bowman and L.L. Bean didn't know they had coming.
"They ran the numbers, from Saturday and Sunday and they tell us we were the number one best-selling tour stop of their entire tour. So they have a fall tour and they stop all along the East Coast and Petersburg, Virginia was number one to date for top-selling," Bowman said.
Those numbers and the number of people who attended the pop-up might mean new opportunities for the city.
“We’re looking to bring something quarterly down into the downtown area, focusing on our businesses and giving us great exposure that we deserve," said Brian Moore, Director of Petersburg Economic Development.
Business owners in Old Towne Petersburg agree that the pop-up was successful and others should follow suit.
"Anything that builds traffic is great for us and Old Towne," Takacs said.
Petersburg officials said the numbers also contributed to a higher volume of people attending other city events on Saturday, including the Homes Tour and Centre Hill Mansion.
Now, Petersburg already has a New Year's resolution - to set up more pop-ups in 2024 and help bring in more customers for the city's small businesses.
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