Comic-Con isn't just about costumes and celebrities—it's a massive economic engine for local businesses throughout downtown San Diego.

San Diego

San Diego's Comic-Con is delivering a substantial economic impact for local businesses, with restaurants, artists, and other vendors experiencing a surge in sales. Chef Kevin Templeton from Asa Manana Cantina reports aiming for $50,000 in sales during the event, highlighting Comic-Con as the top revenue generator among downtown events. 

The event's influence extends beyond traditional businesses, as street artists and charitable organizations also benefit from the increased foot traffic. City officials estimate that the influx of visitors will contribute more than $160 million to San Diego's local economy.

Comic-Con powers major sales boom for San Diego businesses

I'm here in the heart of 5th Street, where it's not just capes and costumes, but Comic-Con is powering a major sales boom for local businesses. Let's show you some of them. First stop, Asa Manana Cantina, flinging cocktails, tacos, taquitos, and more. Comic-Con is always one of those things where we're just so grateful and so happy about it, yeah. Out of all of the events in downtown, from Padres games, concerts, and big conventions, Chef Kevin Templeton says Comic-Con always tops the charts. For here, we're shooting for $50,000 in sales, I would say. And for downtown, that's pretty good. Now let's go back outside on J Street. Lines wrapping around restaurants, sidewalks packed. I tried talking with a few novelty stores, no luck. But then I spotted this man. Sculpture, a lot of people like it. His business is a twist to a caricature artist. His name is Kevin. How many do you usually do a day? You see the busy, maybe six, seven. Pamela Cha tells me she bought one of Kevin's pieces for her son, something she admits she probably wouldn't have done if it weren't for Comic-Con. I just wanted to kind of capture, you know, a moment in time for my son at a certain age, especially him being here. Not all businesses benefiting from Comic-Con are brick and mortar. Is business booming on the pedicabs because of Comic-Con? Yes. That's amazing. And not all businesses are for profit. These are Comic-Con umbrellas that we got and some Hello Kitty hats that we got here. Rudy Montarosa is raising money for homeless veterans, showing that even in all this fandom, there's heart in every corner of the con. Everybody's just been coming up to me, you know, without even buying stuff, it's just donating. The city of San Diego says that come this Sunday, all of these visitors that you see here behind me will pump more than $160 million into our local economy. Reporting in the Gaslamp Quarter, Dani Miskell, ABC 10 News.

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