Businesses report solid sales during holiday weekend

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The sky over Mitchell was filled with the sight, sound and smell of fireworks as the city’s official fireworks show and dozens of private Fourth of July aerial celebrations exploded Sunday night. The city show was held over Lake Mitchell and hundreds of people viewed it to celebrate Independence Day. (Melanie Brandert/Republic Photo)

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Many Mitchell businesses reported a hot time during the long Fourth of July holiday weekend.

For a lot of people, the weekend started Friday or earlier and will continue through today, as many if not most businesses will be closed today, allowing people to have more time off to spend with family, friends or on trips.

Mitchell hotels and motels as well as bars and restaurants were able to cash in on the summer break, according to employees at local businesses.

Ramada Inn and Suites front desk clerk Kristee Horn said the hotel was hopping all weekend.

“We were really busy last night and the night before,” Horn said Sunday afternoon. “A lot of walk-ins.”

She said many of the people who stopped were on the road and chose to stop in Mitchell during their holiday trip.

Hayley Marquardt, a front desk clerk at the Best Western Motor Inn, said the hotel did well during the holiday weekend.

“I think we had a pretty good weekend,” Marquardt said. “We were pretty busy.”

The Mitchell Econo Lodge was also doing well.

“We’ve been full the last two nights,” front desk clerk Mark Gullings said Sunday. “We’re also doing well tonight.”

An employee at Marlin’s Family Restaurant said he was “very pleased” with the weekend’s business and happy with the customer count.

“Business at Marlin’s was quite busy; numbers were about the same, slightly down from last year,” said general manager Doug Freidel. “The cause of that was the nicer weather. More people were outside.”

Dr. Lucky’s Bar and Grill bartender Shaina Huber said for a holiday weekend, business was good.

“Yesterday (Saturday) was all right. Pretty good regular Saturday night,” Huber said. “Today, it’s a little slower than a normal Sunday. It’s a holiday weekend, can’t really complain.”

Tags: news, local, fireworks