This year’s Oktoberfest was the 41st iteration of the event. Even with last year being an anniversary, New Ulm Chamber of Commerce CEO Sarah Warmka is convinced this year had more people.

“It was higher than previous years,” she said. “Last year was the 40th anniversary and we had record attendance. This year we had significantly more people. It’s hard to measure how many because it’s a free event and we have no way of tracking, but there were thousands there. If we hadn’t extended that extra block, there’s no way we could have fit the extra amount of people.”

Warmka said the economic impact of Oktoberfest could be seen throughout the business sector. From hotels to gas stations and everything in between, everyone got a big boost.

“It is also good for our attractions because people can see them while they are here for Oktoberfest,” she said. “People are paying an extra half a percent on local sales tax. It helps fund local projects.”

Gypsy Girl Consignment Boutique owner Amy Midtbruget said Oktoberfest magents from a vendor were some of their most successful items. Oktoberfest provided a big boost to this brand new small business.

Amy Midtbruget recently opened Gypsy Girl Consignment Boutique, allowing vendors to have their products in a retail environment. She said Oktoberfest went very successfully for both her and her vendors.

“They’re all very grateful to have an outlet to sell their products,” Midtbruget said. “We did have to restock a few of them. We have some popular items here that seemed to go pretty quickly. But they all were very good about making sure I had extra stuff on hand.”

Vendors even made signs, magnets, and earrings specifically for Oktoberfest. Midtbruget said these were by far the most successful items in her store. With customers coming from as far as Germany and Tijuana, Mexico, Oktoberfest had a definite economic impact.

For Christmas Haus and MN Eis owner Lindsay Henn, it was her first year as the owner of multiple businesses during Oktoberfest. She said it’s common business sense downtown Oktoberfest would provide an increase in revenue for small businesses.

“It helped greatly Minnesota Street was an additional closed area with the turf, kids games, corn pit, and axe throwing,” Henn said “That’s an environment where people want to spend time. The more time they spend in a place the more money they tend to spend in that place. Adding all of those things and creating that environment is key to a successful weekend.”

Even though the temperatures were around the 40-50 range, Henn said there was a line to the door for most of the day Saturday at MN Eis. At Christmas Haus, their most popular items were the German-themed shirts and their German items. For Oktoberfest, there was a special cart in the store for items from Germany.

Sweet Haven Tonics had a unique opportunity to capitalize on Oktoberfest, as they are one of the businesses with a parklet. The parklet allows people to enjoy drinks from the business outside, which came in handy during some of the events.

“It was great because there was the parade downtown and it gave people a place to sit and enjoy it,” Owner Leah Treleven said “And it was a great sunny day. It allowed us even when we were full inside to have great seating for people during the beautiful weekend weather.”

To bring in extra business, Treleven opened the business two hours early during the weekend to capture the early morning Oktoberfest crowd. She said this decision helped them capitalize on Oktoberfest’s revenue potential.

“That was the biggest impact,” Treleven said. “We had our doors open before we normally would. Because we were open and welcoming people in we had the opportunity to serve a lot more guests.”

The business also served drinks specifically for the morning, such as mimosas and Bloody Marys. Treleven said these were their most popular products during Oktoberfest.

All three business owners said the first Oktoberfest weekend was their most successful of the year. For Midtbruget and Treleven, whose businesses were not open for their previous Oktoberfest, it was their most successful sales period ever. Aside from the normal stress with preparing for an influx of customers, none of them could think of any downsides. For small businesses in New Ulm, Oktoberfest is the gift that keeps on giving.