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Show Holiday Throngs Shatter Old Records - -.. I s.rpzf '- ...;(' V - v4 ' .i hi it ' u h- n n'i Lines formed early Saturday at the Resort's Gondola with the Christmas holiday traffic In full swing The annual holiday influx of visitors to Park City for Christmas turned out to be as expected for merchants, and in some cases, business far exceeded ex-ceeded last year in several stores and restaurants around town. Both Moana Corporation and Central Reservations reported near capacity bookings in condominiums last week and expect 100 percent booking throughout this week. Park City Resort, according to assistant Marketing Director Laura Thomas, had a 30 percent increase of skiers on the mountain last week compared to the same time period last year. Mary Mayer, group sales and reservations director for Moana, said that unlike last year there were no cancellations this year. "This week," she said, "it'll be even better. We were really busy last week. Saturday was just about the busiest day of the year." Moana handles reservations for about 300 condominiums in town. "We had more reservations this year for the week before Christmas than last year," said Tom Hansen, Director of Central Cen-tral Reservations. "We were 25 percent ahead. People were booking earlier this year. This week was sold out by July 15." Hansen said that many of the visitors have been to Park City in years past. "We're extremely pleased," he added. "We've filled about 85 percent of our projects for this year already." Business picked-up significantly signifi-cantly last week on Main Street in preparation for the holidays for both shops and restaurants. The Family Jewels at the bottom of Main Street set an all-time record last week for sales, according to owner Dick Doty. "Last week," he said, "was the best we've ever had. Our worst day was better than the best day we had last year. We worked a hulluva lot of long hours." Many people waited to do their Christmas shopping in Park City rather than shop elsewhere, Doty added. "I was really flattered," he said. "We had numerous people from Salt Lake, Ogden and Provo make special trips here to do their shopping." And there were also many locals buying gifts at The Family Jewels, Doty pointed out. "Parrk City really got into the spirit of shopping here, and I would like to thank them for their support," he said. Roslyn Grose, manager of Park City Floral, said there were many Parkites buying flowers and decorations in her store located next to the Chamber of Commerce. 'There was more local business," she said. "It seems like more people were inte- 1 rested in decorating this year." Like Dick Doty, Roslyn Grose said this year marked an increase in local trade; and she also said there weren't as many tourists shopping at the Floral shop. "I had a lot of locals who went to Salt Lake to shop and then return here to find what they wanted in my shop," she said. Business at both Mount Air Market and Cafe were reported higher than last year, according to owner George Polychronis. Last year this time, Mt. Air Cafe was in the process of being rebuilt following a fire which virtually destroyed it. Park City's new Holiday Inn was 75 percent booked up to Dec. 25 and is now completely full, according to Marketing Director Debbie Travis. The Inn's 177 rooms are occupied through the end of the month. Wolfe's Sporting Goods at the Resort plaza has been selling merchandise so fast, it ran out of several i terns during the holiday rush. "It's much busier than last year," said employee Dave Young. Lloyd Stevens, owner of The Claimjumper Restaurant, said business was about the same this year as last year. "It was a good business," he said, "not spectacular, but good." Dolly Makoff, owner of Dolly's Bookstore on Main Street, has had little time to rest over the holidays. She described business as "super." "It's been a madhouse every day. I've got a good local business," she said, adding, "My sales were up over last year." Merchants and restaurant owners agreed that even though business was brisk last week, they can expect this week to be even more lucrative. "We always do better during the latter half of the holidays," said Car 19 owner Don Millecam. |