The early reviews have been mixed for a few businesses directly across from the Hawaii Convention Center.
Thousands are expected to attend the APEC summit – but will heavy security measures keep potential business away?
Lunch at Blazin Steaks is keeping Keoni Gaspar busy on the grill.
"Yeah, they’ve been coming in over the last week I would say. We actually had quite a bunch of them and everybody loves the food. So, I mean they keep coming back," he says.
Just a few doors down it’s a different story for hairstylist Marilyn Prestler.
"Yesterday was kind of a slow day, and I made good money. And the day before, Sunday we were cranking, I made a lot of money. And then all of a sudden I’ve made two dollars and twenty cents today so far," she says.
It’s APEC week, a week area businesses owners have been waiting for with a mixture of excitement and fear.
"We kind of had an idea that the vehicular access would be restricted, to what extent we didn’t know. So, we weren’t banking on that. We kind of thought foot traffic would be, the area would be open to foot traffic and it is," Gaspar says.
And while it’s early in the week and Gaspar is trying to remain positive, still, he is a little concerned about access.
"You know mainly we’re banking on the 20,000 people across the street. And we just found out that they have to walk all the way down to the Ala Moana Hotel and cross the street and come back over here, which might be a little bit of a deterrent," he says.
There was some foot traffic making it’s way into the area and the merchants remain hopeful this week won’t be a painful one.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
