Economic downturn not slowing vendor sales at DuneFest

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Story Published: Jul 29, 2009 at 5:25 PM PDT

By Kristina Nelson, KCBY News

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WINCHESTER BAY, Ore. - DuneFest 2009 is under way in Winchester Bay and by the looks of things, the economy is having little to no effect on the vendors' abilities to sell their merchandise.

Crowds of people with shopping bags in hand lined vendor row out on the dunes Wednesday morning at the first full day of DuneFest.

"So far it's been good, I mean right off the bat before even nine o'clock hit, there were people in here shopping and walking around," said Pete Corwin, vendor and Owner of Got Sand?

"The traffic flow is really nice, I'm actually surprised at how many people are already out here," added Andrea Lanphere, Manager of The Shop on Canyon Road, a vendor out of Beaverton.

And it's not just the vendors that are happy with the turnout, DuneFest Coordinator Joe Mirvis says over the four-day event, they are expecting a record amount of ATV enthusiasts.

"We are totally sold out, reservations went very well this year. We're expecting a record crowd of 8,000 plus."

And all those people mean a boost in business for local stores, with more folks shopping for basic goods.

As for the vendors, they say now that the economic downturn is starting to ease, their sales, especially at events like this, are starting to pick up.

"Sales are starting to pick up, not like they were, but, it's the Oregon and Washington area that we're seeing, it seems like people are getting up off the couch and they're OK, let's spend money," said Corwin.

"Nobody's taking those big Florida vacation trips, they're going to the local events, they're spending the time out in local events," added Lanphere.

Both vendors and organizers said they hope this early momentum in sales will extend into the weekend.

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