Restaurant manager reacts to eclipse business: ‘as far as I’m concerned it was a bust’

Following the eclipse on Monday morning, many were surprised by the lack of activity in Pocatello.

For places like the Portneuf Hospital, the lack of activity was a good thing.

“Everything that is happening on this Monday is kind of the same stuff we see most Mondays,” commented Todd Blackinton, a public relations spokesperson for the Portneuf Hospital.

However, for local eateries, many banked on more people staying in the area.

“We are very disappointed with the pre-eclipse. As far as i’m concerned it was a bust,” commented Pocatello Perkins manager, Stan Hales.

Hales said they bought more food and made sure they had extra staff on hand on Monday.

“We had great anticipation, we ordered a lot of food. Brought in a lot of staff, and it just did not work out,” Hales said.

Hales said part of the reason they lost revenue is because locals in the area were worried about heavy traffic, so they avoided going out.

“I think it actually deterred us local people from coming out because we were told ‘go buy your groceries, go buy your water and go hunker down.’ So we did not see a lot of our regulars because they stayed home. So any increase in business we saw was basically off set by the loss of regular customers or local customers, ” Hales added.