Business Opportunities Weblog

July 1, 2010 by Rich Whittle | 1 Comment

Inc.com reports that Annette Root is a full-fledged Twilight entrepreneur, and she’s not the only one. The new tourist culture has gradually inspired a fresh batch of small businesses in and around Forks, Washington. Forks is the place that inspired author Stephenie Meyer used as the setting to her now-epically famous book series, Twilight.

From the Jacob Black’s House lodging facility to a retailer called Native to Twilight, Forks natives are increasingly capitalizing on the opportunity. It’s also given established local business owners a previously unseen surge in revenue, even during the winter months.

Between 2008 and 2009, the number of people visiting the Forks Visitor Center nearly quadrupled, according to the Forks Chamber of Commerce, and the 2010 numbers are already surpassing last year’s.

As the third Twilight film, “Eclipse,” premieres, the booming business in Forks shows no signs of slowing down, and many local owners couldn’t be more grateful.

“The majority of merchants here in Forks really appreciate this,” says Mike Gurling, manager of the Forks Visitor Center. “Forks, prior to this, was sort of like a Sleepy Hollow.”

“Stephanie Meyer gave the community a gift, and we’ve all benefited from it,” Bill Brager says. “If ever people come by who never heard of Twilight, I tell them, ‘Go to the first book, the first chapter, the first sentence of the second paragraph. That’s the first mention of Forks. From that point on, it changed the history of our town.’”

Photo by Summit Entertainment.

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Tags: Celebrities, Economy, Movies, Niche, Tourism, Travel