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Businesses, vendors express mixed feelings on impact of All-Star Weekend

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte is buzzing with excitement as the NBA All-Star Weekend comes to a close.

Business owners and vendors told Channel 9 they could not wait for the huge event and the opportunities it presented. But with the rainy and cold weather, some feared the celebration would not meet expectations.

Officials said they anticipated more than 150,000 people coming to Charlotte for the weekend.

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The Epicentre of Charlotte's All-Star Party did its part for the city, packing in fans who did not have tickets to the game.

But, other businesses in uptown did not echo the same sentiment. No Grease Barbershop's Jermaine Johnson said they did not see the big boom in business they had hoped for.

The barbershop is located right outside the Spectrum Center.

"When you're this close, right there at the area, when the canines going by in the really military type of security, we definitely didn't see the traffic you usually see on Fourth Street," Johnson said.

Johnson said one of the biggest problems may have been the barricades lining both sides of Trade Street.

The crew at Memory Lane, which grilled sausages behind the barricades, said they saw customers two or three at a time, but it was not the big weekend they expected.

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"It's been kind of slow. Since we've been here three days, we haven't seen, in this particular spot, more than 300," Rodney Nelson from Memory Lane said.

Officials said the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, along with the Hornets, will release preliminary numbers for the NBA All-Star Weekend early this week.

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