Ember Duke | layout editor

In nearly every storefront of Punxsutawney’s main commerce strip, Mahoning Street, Phil’s bucktooth likeness begs thousands of tourists to snag some souvenirs before they head back to their homes across the world.

Though Phil had bad news and predicted six more weeks of winter, Groundhog Day is still the town’s main stimulus for local and visiting business, local business owners said.

Nathan Croyle, homebrewer turned co-owner of Punxsutawney Brewing Co., said the Groundhog Day events bring in 30% of the business’s annual revenue. Since the brewery’s inception in September 2023, it stocks local bars with kegs and cans.

He said the community reception has been great.

“[We] went from no alcohol production in Punxsutawney to three in a year,” he said. “[We] all kinda had the idea at the same time.”

The brewery was vending at a festival in Barclay Square among dozens of other businesses. Starting their prep right after Thanksgiving, the brewery staff prepared approximately 700 cans, thinking it would last the whole weekend. Instead, they planned to sell out on Saturday, the second day of the three-day festival, Croyle said.

“Today is much busier than any day last year,” he said attributing some of the success to the recent permits allowing open cans at the festival.

Katie Laska, Punxsutawney Chamber of Commerce president and owner of Laska’s Pizza, said Groundhog Day is a boost for the town and for the surrounding area. She said as the chamber president she does not track what businesses’ holiday revenue is, but talks to local owners to see how the weekend went.

“We bring in thousands of people here, and they shop at our stores, eat at our restaurants and they buy souvenirs from our local crafters,” Laska said. “When you see 40,000 people in a town, that’s usually 6,000 people … all our businesses are going to see an increase in sales.”

She said many people like local business employees, borough workers, bus drivers and police work overtime for the holiday.

“All businesses prepare. We prepare for this for months ahead. I own a small business. I put more staff on,” she said. “Those people are making more money because they’re working hours that they normally wouldn’t work. Distributors are selling us products more that weekend that they normally don’t sell because of the influx of people.”

Business owner Beverly Fairman found her way to Punxsutawney during her time at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and opened Fairlady & Co. in 2006.

The shop sells a variety of items, like handcrafted ceramics, fine jewelry and a litany of groundhog merchandise. She starts preparing for the groundhog mania in early January.

“It’s like having a second Christmas,” she said.

People from Texas, Florida, Sweden, Thailand and France among dozens of other locations have penned their names in a guestbook on display by the shop’s entrance.

“This [visiting tourists] is all year long they’re coming from these places,” Fairman said.

The business she gets over the holiday carries her through the slower months of March and April, she said. Her customer pool isn’t just tourists, though. Locals frequent the shop, and she said she supports the creatives in town by carrying their work.

“I love writing those checks to local artists,” she said.

The business map of Punxsutawney leans toward more locally owned shops.

Beverly Philippi, owner of B’s Books, Etc., which opened 19 years ago said, she also tries to shop locally for daily things like hardware or groceries, and she thinks most town residents do the same.

“All the local businesses respond for community activities,” Philippi said.

According to several business owners, the limited lodging space in Punxsutawney forces tourists to book hotels in surrounding areas, which benefits the whole region.

Groundhog Grindz, opened four years ago by Jill Rend and offers specialty beverages including Phil’s Loaded Teas — house made mixtures of different flavors. Rend said Sunny’s Latte and the Hibernation Cold Brew from the coffee shop’s holiday menu have been popular this season.

Rend said the Groundhog Day rush started on Jan. 29 and in previous years it’s been busy through the festivities.

“I over-order everything,” she said. “We’ve had to run places to get supplies [after selling out]”

Because of Punxsutawney’s location near the middle of the state, it’s a common pit stop for travellers throughout the whole year, Rend said.

“The nice thing is we have a lot of regulars,” she said of visiting customers who stop at the cafe year after year.

Rend said in the past few years, a new market has begun emerging in the area: breweries.

Sandfly Brewing opened their brick-and-mortar location in 2023 and were vending the festival out of a food truck.

“This is the Black Friday of this town,” said Jason Huffman, Sandfly co-owner. The revenue made over the holiday pays for the slow winter months, he said.

Moses Lemann, senior urban studies major at the University of Pittsburgh, and his friends drove through the winding back roads from Pittsburgh to Punxsutawney in the early hours of Feb. 2 to see Phil’s prognostication in person for the second year in a row.

He stood bearing the below freezing weather, eyes toward the sky in awe of a fireworks show above the barre forest surrounding Gobbler’s Knob — the historical location of the forecast.

“It’s like Mecca,” he said jokingly. “Of course I’m going to come [expletive] see this.”

While the festivities continue after Phil’s prediction, Mark Young, owner of Roseman’s Florists, said the town typically starts to clear out in the early afternoon.

As the longest established florist in town, he does the floral arrangements for the annual Groundhog Day Ball and makes the boutonnieres for the Groundhog Club Inner Circle — Phil’s caretakers and handlers.

The town’s commerce builds progressively in the days leading up and deflates after the main events, he said.

“It’s like a balloon,” Young said. “We don’t have enough to hold people here … the plus is we have Phil.”