‘Great for business;’ Waco airport prepares for expected large turnout ahead of Trump campaign rally

WACO, Texas (KWTX) – The owners of a bar about a mile from Waco Regional Airport don’t know what to expect for business ahead of former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally, but they hope the expected large crowds will help their small business. . .

Lakeside bar owner Buck Alambar said an incident of this magnitude is rare for their part of town, so they’re preparing for anything and anyone.

“This is an event that does not happen often in many places,” he said. “It certainly doesn’t happen very often in Waco, and the airport is less than a mile from us, so it could be huge for our business.”

Alambar said he expects many vehicles to pass through the airport bar. on the way to the rally, but he’s concerned that construction in front of the business could keep attendees from going to the bar after the rally.

Construction continues on Airport Street. causing northbound traffic to be diverted to the airport. Therefore, Alambar said, if someone goes to the bar from the airport, he has to walk five miles to reach the bar.

“Getting out of the airport is not easy,” Alambar said. “You’ll have to walk all the way back here. Not sure what that’s going to look like.”

While he said he was grateful to the city for reopening the road, Alambar said it was a rare opportunity for business and he hoped for a good turnout that could help small businesses.

“It could be great for our business,” he said. “We’re hoping for that because… business has stopped with construction, so we’re hoping it’s a big day. We’re hoping that, in terms of the numbers, it’s a big day for us to just kind of help offset some of that.”

Regardless, Alambar said they will be open regular hours and ready to serve customers.

“We hope people will come, come and go to this event,” he said. “I think it’s a great thing for Waco, Texas, to have so many people coming into town, for local businesses. We’re very excited for everyone that’s going to benefit from this.”

He said when deciding whether the bar should do anything special on Saturday, they chose to open as normal.

“We’re a small business in Waco, and we have customers, clients and friends that come here that they either support or they don’t,” he said. “We don’t believe that as a business, it’s wise for us not to take sides in something like this. We welcome everyone.”

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