The return of the Hamilton Grand Prix brought crowds into the city this weekend, earning a mixed review from the Front Street business community.

The two days of races, put on by the Bermuda Karting Club and the Corporation of Hamilton, closed off Front Street traffic from Burnaby Street to Bermudiana Road, both days from 6am to 6pm.

Bermudiana and Par-la-Ville Roads up as far as Church Street were also off-limits to motorists.

For some the carnival atmosphere seemed an obvious win.

Flanagan’s manager Al McIntosh said the bar and restaurant reaped “better than average” business, but admitted he had lost a couple of reservations when patrons realised the races didn’t extend quite as far as his establishment.

Since food vendors lined the streets outside, Saturday’s races did not bring exceptional business, a Hog Penny employee said. However, yesterday’s rain sent plenty of custom indoors.

Mr McIntosh concurred: “Once it started raining, we got hammered with people.”

For the department store Brown and Co, in the midst of the action, the Grand Prix had “a positive impact on business, for sure,” operations manager Donna Ashley-Adair reported.

“It definitely brought a lot of people into our business.

“They weren’t just standing outside. The noise was a little rough on our Front Street entrance, but we couldn’t hear it anywhere else.

“Our patrons were very much into the spirit of the event. It brought a great atmosphere into the city.”

Not all retailers within range of the music and engines would have been enamoured, she added.

One disappointed retailer was Van Swan, senior sales executive at the AS Cooper men’s store.

“I don’t want to sound like a grinch, and I support the entertainment because at least there’s something to do in town on a Sunday,” he said.

“Saturday was a good business day. But today, when the tourists came in on the fast ferry, they couldn’t make it into the store.”

With the roads walled off with barricades and bales of hay, and rows of onlookers blocking the storefront from view, Mr Swan watched a lot of his business wandering away on the far side of the street.

“There was no way for them to cross the road,” he said. “My business crowd is strictly Monday to Friday over lunch hours, so on a day like this I count on the tourists that come in on the cruise ships.”

He added: “The bells and whistles from outdoors and the roars of the engines meant we weren’t able to effectively communicate with customers without closing the door.

“People definitely enjoyed themselves, though. The crowds had a good time.”

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