It was a busy couple of weeks for people in Wapakoneta as the city celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. People came from all around the world to celebrate with Neil Armstrong’s hometown, and few know just how much that kind of foot traffic impacted Wapak’s economy better than the business community on Auglaize St.
“It was amazing,” said Landa Tomlinson, co-owner of Casa Chic. “They came from everywhere, all over the world. We had people from Spain, from Bosnia, from the Ukraine, [and] all over the United States so there was definitely more people and different people than what we normally have here in Wapak. We had regular sales but people were from different places instead of local people, sometimes."
The extra foot traffic was more than welcomed by the downtown businesses on Auglaize St. after several saw a dip in customers following the December 23rd fire at the Koneta Hotel. Even as the city was preparing for their celebration visitors, things started looking up for businesses like Cloud Nine Cafe and Catering.
“Once they cleaned everything up and laid the gravel down, and we got our parking places back, then we started seeing more traffic,” said Sarah Beth Wilcox, owner and operator for Cloud Nine Cafe and Catering. "
Wilcox says that she also attributes part of what brought people through the doors to the inclusion on one of the unique experiences that were being promoted for the event.
“We’re on the Moon Menu and so we had a lot of people coming in,” said Wilcox. “It was in Ohio Magazine, the Smithsonian, and we just had a lot of good coverage.”
Another factor in the heightened foot traffic around the city is the extension of the celebration from four days to ten.
