Local business owners cash in on Thunder Over Louisville crowds

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (WDRB) -- One of the biggest events of the spring in Louisville is in the books, and proved to be one for the books as local businesses turn the Thunder bang into bucks.

Thunder Over Louisville was loud and packed, with thousands of people on both sides of the Ohio River — many of them spending money. For merchants, Thunder meant catching lightning in a bottle.

"It was the busiest Thunder I have seen so far," said Ramiro Gandara. The owner of local restaurant Ramiro's Cantina, Gandara was in a unique position to measure the Thunder crowd on Saturday with food trucks in Louisville and downtown Jeffersonville.

"Big Four Bridge here, Big Four Bridge over there. I could see the trucks from the river," he said.

IMAGES | The Sights and Sounds of Thunder Over Louisville

The weather was perfect as tens of thousands of people converged at the waterfront in downtown Louisville, Ky., to take in Thunder Over Louisville.

Gandara said the Louisville crowd was about three times that of Jeffersonville, but their money all spends the same, although it is dependent on the weather. Gandara said the cooler weather in the morning slowed things down a little.

"Yes (at) 1:30 (p.m.) we were eating ice cream and we were eating pizza and then suddenly we got hit," he said.

At one point, a line of people waiting to place an order at one of Gandara's trucks had a 20-minute wait ahead of them to make their contribution to the overall economic impact of the official Kentucky Derby Festival kickoff.

The big show was estimated to generate about $56 million to the regional economy.

"We were pleasantly surprised," said Jenny Trish, manager at Harry's Taphouse in Jeffersonville.

Trish said Harry's had about 2,500 people come through the doors on Saturday for Thunder. From their front porch, patrons had a full view of the entire show.

This was the first year the restaurant didn't take reservations or sell tables in advance, instead letting people hang out at tables on the porch as long as they were spending money. Trish said they did, and both the restaurant and wait staff cleaned up.

"We probably tripled their tips, easily," she said. "And they were very happy when they counted it."

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