Star-gazing schoolchildren have brought a decidedly unscientific excitement to merchants at The Gateway shopping mall.
A record number of people have visited the Clark Planetarium since its April opening, including almost daily field trips for school-age children. More important to store owners, however, is that those numbers have also meant a significant jump in sales, especially at the more family-oriented retail outlets and kid-friendly restaurants.
At Gymboree, which specializes in baby and toddler clothing, manager Sandy Garcia said that the field trips are especially beneficial for her business because of the parents who accompany the groups.
"I definitely think we've had a lot more traffic, especially at the end of the school year," she said. "The field trips have parents as chaperones, and they often would come in after the shows."
According to numbers from Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman's office, which oversees planetarium operations, more than 136,000 people have visited the planetarium since the opening. Additionally, more than 65,000 people have watched shows at the Star Theater — annual attendance at the Hansen Planetarium's star shows usually hovered around 50,000 — and the always popular weekend laser shows have only been going since late June.
"From what we're hearing from the merchants, it's been phenomenal," Workman said. "From an economic development standpoint, it's been huge . . . it's been out-of-sight, far better than I thought it would be."
Because of the success, the county has decided to make some aggressive moves to improve planetarium business even more. A greater variety of IMAX movies will be offered with more times available, a new advertising campaign is being planned, and tickets will soon be sold online.
"I don't see it letting up," Workman said.
Jake Boyer, managing partner for Gateway, said sales are up 11 percent overall this year, a great part of which can be attributed to the planetarium's impressive business. Another added benefit of the planetarium has been the out-of-town visitors, which is easily noticed "when all of the buses are lined up, and most of them are not from Salt Lake City."
But the planetarium has not been the only new draw, Boyer said. Along with special events like the recent Chris Isaak concert, there have also been new restaurants and stores and weekly events, such as "Monday Madness" sales or performances by local musicians on Friday nights.
"The planetarium is another piece of the puzzle that generates traffic over here," he said. "But it's exceeded everybody's expectations. We're all excited that it's doing so well."
One of the most enthusiastic supporters of the planetarium and the business it sends his way is Tony Farrauto, general manager of Humphrey Yogurt. Many of the families that line up for frozen yogurt after shows are recognizable because they had come in once before, asking for directions to the planetarium.
Farrauto said his type of business will experience the greatest impact from any new thing that brings out parents and their children, whether it's the planetarium, the future Children's Museum, or even the opening of a blockbuster movie.
"I'm not a destination store, so giving people a reason to come down here helps me," he said. "But people always come here after they have seen what they came to see."
E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com