ASHWAUBENON, Wis. — It’s not just the Packers who are gearing up for a big weekend.

What You Need To Know

  • Both fans and businesses are looking forward to Packers home game Sunday

  • Each home game has a roughly $15 million economic impact in the Green Bay area

  • The Packers play the Chicago Bears Sunday night​

Businesses around Green Bay are getting ready for the uptick in business that comes with the team’s home games, and it’s not just businesses with direct ties to football.

At Twist Boutique in Ashwaubenon — not far from Lambeau field — staff said they’ll see an increase in foot traffic this weekend as fans come to town.

“We love game weekend because we’re just a couple blocks away from the Lambeau District,” said Sue Mathews, who works at Twist.

While the game is the magnet that draws people to the city, they’ll also spend time eating, shopping and buying gas.

Discover Green Bay said for a typical home game that creates a roughly $15 million economic impact on the region.

That means locally-owned businesses, like Twist.

“We know that when you come in for a game you’re looking to do other things too, particularly for an evening game,” Mathews said. ”Most people will at least come in for the entire day and grab some lunch and check out the local businesses.”

The Packers play the Bears Sunday night.

Tom Bacon opens T. Bacon’s Barbecue Restaurant on Sundays just for those home games.

“It’s a night game, so we’ll be busy all day long,” he said. “The 3 p.m. games are the best because we’re busy from the time we open until the game. Then after the game we’re packed until we close. It’s people waiting outside to come in.”

Home games are an important part of his business, especially since staffing shortages have forced him to reduce the number of day’s the restaurant is open.

“It’s absolutely important. It’s double or triple our sales, and we need that to survive seeing how we’re only open four days now instead of six,” he said. “We’ve got to make up for that somewhere.”

Back at Twist, Mathews said they’ll see follow on internet sales.

“We come in every morning after games and after occasions on the weekend to orders that have been placed online that we then ship out the next day,” she said.