The SLO CAL Open surf competition is taking place this week in Pismo Beach.
With surfers in town from all over, local business owners shared how the event is impacting them.
Louie Maglieri, owner of Weenie World in downtown Pismo Beach, says his restaurant was quite busy on the first day of the SLO CAL Open.
“Well, Monday was a pretty good day because it was a holiday,” Maglieri said.
He says his business has been slow this month but this event has helped increase sales during the beginning of the week.
"Right now, you know, we’re off-season,” Maglieri said. “ So yeah, anything helps to bring people to the area. I think it’s a great event for the beach community.”
Over at Hoagies, a manager says the competition has brought new faces to the area.
“Business has been really good,” said Christopher Amavisca, Hoagies front of house manager. “A lot of surfers coming in, a lot of cool faces, a lot of new people coming. It’s really cool to get our name out there and feed the people surfing.”
While business may be slower during the weekdays, Amavisca says they anticipate seeing more customers this weekend.
“Definitely for sure more this weekend as the event comes to an end,” Amavisca said. “A lot of last-minute people coming for the weekend. That's the thing about, you know, middle of the day — people are usually working or in school right now here in town, but it's still pretty cool to see some people still make it for the surf competition.”
Molly Cano, Visit SLO CAL Vice President of Marketing, says this event allows visitors and tourists to explore the various local businesses in the area.
“We're excited to see spectators come down, in addition to our competitors, to be able to enjoy SLO CAL and to explore Pismo Beach while they're here, to enjoy some local dining, some local shopping, and really to help support our local businesses,” Cano said.
The competition takes place at the Pismo Pier through Sunday, January 26.
WATCH: Surfer Cory Arrambide talks about competing in the SLO CAL Open
