Oklahoma Towns Look Forward To Extra Business Created By The Eclipse

Small towns along the path of totality are taking advantage of all the visitors in town for the eclipse.

News On 6’s Chinh Doan was live right off Highway 259, a busy stretch that leads you to Beavers Bend State Park.

They were seeing a lot of cars already at 9 a.m., which is great for businesses like Perfectly Imperfect Vintage Marketplace & Boutique.

The owners are selling day-of parking spots for $25 a car. Other businesses are doing the same, and there are also parking options at city parks for free.

As McCurtain County expects to triple its population thanks to visitors, businesses are welcoming the extra traffic and shoppers.

Donna Ray is one of the owners of Perfectly Imperfect Vintage Marketplace & Boutique. She said her store is almost out of eclipse-themed t-shirts, tumblers and stickers.

“I definitely saw a lot of new faces that we’re not familiar with. We asked a lot of people where they were from. We’ve heard from people being from Chicago, Detroit, all over Oklahoma. We have a bunch of Louisiana people here. We’ve even had people here from South Florida," Ray said.

Beavers Bend State Park down the road is sold out on cabins. There are a few other places that have rooms available but expect to pay a lot more.