BUFFALO, N.Y. — After months of discussions on where to put the new Buffalo Bills stadium, a decision has finally been made, leaving many business owners happy with the choices they made decades ago.
"It makes the investment that I made 38 years ago look like one of the best moves I have made in my life, investing in property. Having it so close to my house I love it. I can go to the games without having to rent a hotel and travel out of the area," said Eric Matwijow, the owner of Hammer's Lot.
"Well our business is doing good but with the stadium staying here, it's a big bonus for the whole area and for us," said Mark Ebeling, the owner of Danny's South.
And just across the street, at Yellow Brick Parking, others say it's too soon to predict.
"I don't know if that would be enough to impact me or not, but what would impact me more is probably what they will decide to do with traffic patterns because I am a parking lot, how they direct the traffic in and out of the area, what roads would be close, which ones will be open," said Mark Lester, the owner of Yellow Brick Parking.
They say the team's performance also plays a big role when it comes to the success of their business.
"This Danny's location, we have been out for 23 years," Ebeling said. "We've been up and down with football and we have never had a good year until like the last two years where football really started to do good."
"Thirty-percent of our business we acquire for the football games because there are all sorts of out of towners and people like that in town. It wasn't so much this year because of the virus that was going around, so there weren't a lot of people. There wasn't a lot of traveling, but this year will be big because of the Canadians set free for once and Canadians were a big part of our business."
Matwijow added, "I thought I would do really well, then the Bills went 2 and 14 for a couple of years. They were supposed to do better. Almost lost the property, but in time it turned around."
But when all is said and done, they are all hoping for a big economic boom.
"There are only 30 other cities that have it and I would be overjoyed that the Bills are staying here in Western New York," Matrijow said.
"Well I am very glad the Bills are staying in Buffalo, it will help me and many people financially and especially if local towns and counties are in support of local businesses that can supplement the new stadium," Lester said. "That's really key. If it is going to be a continuation of what it is now, where next to the stadium all we have is a convenience store and a gas station, a bar. Then it wouldn't be a big economic boom for the community. Hopefully, things can change and people can realize, what a great opportunity exist."
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