The U.S. Olympic curling team trials kicked off this past weekend at Baxter Arena. Teams will compete for the chance to join the 2018 winter Olympics.
Across the way, businesses are feeling the impact.
“We have the College World Series; this curling is super exciting, it just puts Omaha on the map,” shop owner Jill Dudzinski said.
“We defiantly had people coming in from out of town,” Emma Lallman, who works at Jones Bros. Cupcakes, said.
She said over the weekend they saw an increase of people in the area.
“I worked this past weekend, and we defiantly had way more people than we normally do on a cold November night,” she said.
The lunch rush on Saturday was their business time.
“Usually during the winter we are slow, it's cold and people don't want to come in,” said Lallman.
“We have seen more people walking around Aksrben which is always exciting,” added Dudzinski.
She owns Hello Ruby, and is currently renting a pop-up shop for the winter. The extra foot traffic in a welcome sight.
“The extra exposure helps so much,” she said.
The curling trials continue all week into Saturday until one women’s and one men’s team if left and ready to compete in the 2018 winter Olympics.
