Deseret Book Salt Lake Downtown at City Creek Center has more sales on conference Saturday than any other day of the year.
Kent Ware, store manager, said that conference Saturday experiences more sales than black Friday or the week before Christmas.
“It can be up to five or six times more busy than a normal day,” Ware said.
Ware said they are working to prepare for the rush. He said they require more than just the regular staff to help deal with the conference rush.
“We have volunteers from other stores come to help,” Ware said.
Ware said the employees are always willing to help the rush that comes into the store that weekend.
“We love this time of year,” Ware said. “We love members coming from around the world.”
Dee Brewer, marketing director at City Creek Center, said many conference patrons visit City Creek Center during conference sessions.
“During General Conference we get about 100,000 visitors throughout the course of the meetings,” Brewer said.
Brewer said conference is a popular event that brings a spike of tourist shoppers the week before and the week after to City Creek Center.
“About 25–35 percent of sales at City Creek come from tourist shoppers,” Brewer said. “Those are shoppers who live more than 50 miles away from Salt Lake.”
Brewer said sales are impacted differently store to store. He said something that attracts conference goers is the dining options City Creek Center has available.
“The food court is very busy during breaks and the evening,” Brewer said. “Fine dining is also very busy.”
Brewer said people also use City Creek Center for parking. Parking is limited downtown, and City Creek Center provides more places for people to park.
“We have 5,000 parking spots below ground,” Brewer said. “It is paid parking, but it is less expensive than meters downtown.”
City Creek Center may appeal to many people since it is only an eight minute walk from the Conference Center.
