SEATTLE — For the first time since 2019, Emerald City Comic Con will be at its usually scheduled time of the year.
It was canceled in 2020; it was held in December in 2021 and it was held in August in 2022.
"Springtime is great. A lot of people have the ability to take some time off from work, come to Seattle and come to a fun convention," Tony Morigi, a 29-year-old employee at Golden Age Collectables, said.
As senior manager for the well-known and regarded comic book spot, Morigi expects their sales to at least double this coming weekend.
"We're a straight shot right down the street and everyone seems to come on down here to Pike Place Market anyway," he said.
Emerald City Comic Con brought in an estimated 75,000 people at 2022 ECCC. Pre-pandemic, Visit Seattle estimated the 2018 Comic Con would have a $22 million impact on the region. That dollar amount factored in not only ticket sales, but also hotels, parking, restaurants and other things people here for the event would do in the city.
Morigi said that's the ripple effect on businesses he likes to see attached to Emerald City Comic Con.
"People will come to the market just to come to our store and then while here, they're going to walk around and check out the rest of the businesses which is great," he said.
Though Emerald City Comic Con runs for several hours Thursday-Sunday, business owners in other areas are hopeful some of the expected thousands of visitors, decide to venture to other parts of Seattle. Carlene Comfrie is one of those owners.
"We serve authentic, Jamaican food and we're very proud of that," Comfrie said. "There are great restaurants here that I know a lot of tourists would love to try."
Comfrie, owner of Taste of the Caribbean in the Central District, is taking part in Black Restaurant Week which coincides with ECCC.
In its third year in Seattle, Black Restaurant Week runs until March 5 with the goal of helping people discover Black-owned restaurants and food trucks. A total of 17 businesses are being highlighted for Black Restaurant Week. Each of them offer up different food and dessert.
"Especially for restaurants like ours that is cultural food, it highlights and gets the general population letting them know we're here," Comfrie said.
In business for almost ten years, Comfrie knows people like what she's selling. Black Restaurant Week, she hopes, will let others know the same.
"We're hopeful that this first one and the future for us will keep customers back and also bring us new customers as well."
Started in 2016, Black Restaurant Week's main goal is to help stimulate the local economy by providing full access to the Black Culinary Industry, a key ingredient to the American Culture.