Jim Coen expects his football-themed merchandise to fly off the shelves when the 2026 NFL Draft comes to town April 23.
“I’m projecting this NFL Draft to be like two Super Bowls combined,” said Coen, who owns Yinzers in the Burgh, a Strip District store dedicated to all things Pittsburgh sports. “I’m estimating about 10 times the amount of business we would have for a regular game.”
He’s already hawking draft-themed merchandise, from gold hats emblazoned with the draft logo and the word “Pittsburgh” to commemorative T-shirts. The shop will have plenty of Steelers gear for sale, as well as more generic draft items that could appeal to out-of-towners.
“We’re going to have to cater to them, also,” Coen said of other teams’ fans. And it will be a balancing act to figure out how much merchandise to stock to be sure he doesn’t run out — or buy more than he can sell.
Coen plans to bring on extra part-time staff to handle the anticipated influx of business. They’ll have handheld credit card machines to keep checkout lines moving efficiently.
Yinzers is among scores of businesses throughout the city hoping to attract extra customers — and rake in extra cash — when the draft comes to town next month. Officials have offered lofty projections of hundreds of thousands of fans flocking to the city.
Businesses are already preparing, hiring new staff, adjusting hours, tweaking menus and brainstorming ways to make their shops and restaurants enticing to the throngs of fans.
Adapting to market
Coen is among those hoping for record-breaking business. Others have kept expectations far more modest.
Steven Thompson is executive chef at Downtown’s Bluebird Kitchen. He doesn’t know how much more business they’ll realistically be able to do during the draft. A breakfast-lunch cafe and bakery with limited seating, Bluebird is already “pretty busy as it is,” Thompson said.
“Unless you build an addition onto your restaurant, there’s a maximum of what you can do,” he said. “There’s a theoretical maximum of meals you can send out in a day. I don’t know how much that changes for everyone else, but we do a lot already.”
Bluebird will extend its hours — including with weekday dinner offerings — to accommodate extra customers. Thompson is still contemplating possible specials or menu changes. Delivery staff will be using scooters to navigate through crowds and traffic jams so they can drop of food and coffee for nearby customers.
At Bar Louie on the North Shore, general manager Dennis Junker has been holding weekly meetings since early February to plot strategy.
“It’s a huge operation… we’re going to have a hiring spree that’s gonna happen. Hopefully we attract a lot of applicants,” Junker said.
Though Bar Louie’s staffing fluctuates day-to-day, Junker said that by draft week, the restaurant should have anywhere from 40 to 50 people on staff.
“It’s going to be good for the city all the way around because so many jobs are going to be created just because of this draft,” Junker said.
Once the draft festivities come to an end, Junker plans to keep on the newly hired staff, hoping for a successful Pirates season to keep crowds heading to the North Shore.
“I’m really excited about Pirates season, too, so with that kicking off, we’re going to need the staffing on hand,” Junker said. “I think most of our employees are going to be on the books for the long haul.”
Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse has a different strategy.
“I’m not necessarily hiring more people, I’m just making sure my people don’t take any vacation time or time off during the draft,” said general manger Ken Macieski.
The upscale North Shore restaurant has 350 seats available.
Macieski said while he does not plan to add any seating, he does hope to open for additional hours to capitalize on the crowds of people staying in the local hotels and walking around.
“We’ll probably be open Thursday through Sunday right at (noon) through 11 at night. Normally, we’re just dinner only,” Macieski said.
The steakhouse has similar procedures during daytime Steelers games. Macieski said the restaurant plans to use the same daytime sandwich menu and transition to the dinner menu later in the day throughout the three-day event.
He also plans to relax the dress code.
It’s not just restaurants and retailers looking to make the most of the draft. Carnegie Museums’ Kamin Science Center — located directly across the street from Acrisure Stadium — has set up a few sports-specific draws that museum officials expect will bring in draft crowds.
On Feb. 28, the science center began screening “The Football Town,” a documentary about Western Pennsylvania’s deep-rooted football culture. The 52-minute film will run multiple times a day for two months leading up to the draft.
Ned Schano, a spokesman for the science center, said the film’s debut drew 500 visitors. The museum does not have a target goal for the number of visitors expected to check out the film during the draft.
Both sides of the river
With the draft events split between the North Shore and Downtown’s Point State Park, businesses on both sides of the Allegheny River are hoping to see major crowds.
At Redbeard’s Sports Bar & Grill Downtown, general manager Brent W. Kightlinger is expecting to see “quite a bit of foot traffic” passing by the Sixth Street spot.
Kightlinger is looking at that as a good thing — but he’s also worried that crowds could make it tricky for employees to get in and out. He’s encouraging workers to give themselves extra time for their commutes.
And he plans to stockpile everything from food and alcohol to takeout containers and cocktail shakers so no one has to brave the traffic to go out for more supplies.
Kightlinger’s goal is to double or triple the business the restaurant does during the city’s annual Picklesburgh festival, which tends to be among their busiest weekends.
He anticipates that some people passing by the restaurant will be hungry, but too eager to get to draft events to sit down for a meal. He’s planning to offer an array of grab-and-go options to appeal to that clientele.
“I’m happy this is coming to the city,” Kightlinger said. “It’s a great opportunity for business owners, as well as the citizens of Pittsburgh, to show off what we have to offer.”
Jeremy Waldrup leads the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, a nonprofit community development organization. The partnership is working to fill 30 to 50 empty storefronts with pop-up retailers, public art installations and window displays.
The group also is tempering expectations for local businesses.
“We’re constantly reminding businesses that people are here to experience the draft,” Waldrup told TribLive. “They’re not coming here to experience x or y restaurant.”
Still, Waldrup said, they’re doing what they can to support businesses in the Golden Triangle. That includes working with the NFL and the draft’s organizing committee to distribute visitor guides that encourage people to check out other businesses and attractions.
He’s also hoping that fans who have a positive experience during draft weekend will be more likely to come back to Pittsburgh, visiting restaurants, shops or events on future trips.
Cherries Diner, located just off Market Square, plans to add some new menu items — like a ribeye steak early-bird special — and touch up the paint before the draft.
Ihtishaam Hussain, whose family owns the diner, is hoping the event will bring extra customers, like Light Up Night does each November. But mostly, he’s excited because officials have promised to have the noisy, disruptive construction underway at Market Square done before that weekend.
The $15 million Market Square facelift includes a new steel-and-glass pavilion, additional seating and upgraded lighting. But construction, which began in April 2025, has been bad for business at Cherries.
“We’ve been dead ever since,” Hussain said.
Kelly Sanders co-owns two boutique stores in Pittsburgh. The first is a women’s clothing store called love, located at Market Square, and the second is a gift shop called love, Pittsburgh, which has locations in Mt. Washington, the Strip District and on Liberty Avenue in Downtown.
While under the same ownership, the different shops have different strategies to capitalize on the draft.
Sanders said the women’s clothing store will have extended hours, and the retail team is working on a special draft jersey that would be sold in the store.
They’re also in the early stages of implementing custom patch work that could be done for draft visitors who wander into the store.
The other store, love, Pittsburgh, will have an entire draft collection — including an ornament that says “Pittsburgh Is my Number One Draft Pick” — which will launch in the weeks leading up to mid-April.
“This whole thing is guesswork,” Sanders said about trying to figure out store hours and planning.
On the Saturday of the draft weekend, Sanders and her team will host a tailgate in the parking lot of the Strip District location with East End Brewing Company, Millie’s Homemade Ice Cream and No Horns Pizza.
Businesses located in some of the city’s other tourism hotspots are looking for unique ways to make the most of the draft, too.
Darrin McMillen, owner of Grandview Bakery, located in Mt. Washington and accessible by the historic Duquesne Incline, added a souvenir shop to the bakery in December.
“We knew the draft was coming and there (are) not a lot of souvenir shops up here,” McMillen said of the businesses clustered atop the hill.
The shop has Steelers memorabilia, including tote bags, ornaments, stickers and Pittsburgh-themed books for kids.
While Grandview Bakery has limited capacity, with tables that can seat up to 30 people, McMillen said he does not plan to rush people out the door.
“We’re very proud of our city. It’s a cool thing that the draft is finally coming here,” McMillen said.
Outside of draft central
Jared Bachar, president and CEO of tourism agency Visit Pittsburgh, said that fans tend to stay close to the event itself.
“They want to be where the excitement is,” he said. “They want to be where the energy is.”
That may not bode well for businesses beyond the immediate vicinity.
Bachar said Visit Pittsburgh is “working to figure out how we can promote some of the outlying areas” to encourage visitors to explore other parts of town. Some people staying in hotels outside of Downtown and the North Shore may spend money at gas stations, restaurants and shops near their accommodations, he pointed out.
But neighborhoods beyond the draft site might not see a massive surge of people.
His message for businesses located a greater distance from the draft: “Don’t overprepare for a large influx of fans.”
In Pittsburgh’s South Side — a neighborhood known for its vibrant nightlife scene — the community group SouthSideCAN (Community Action Network) is hosting an event dubbed Drafted in the South Side: Pets, Pints and Pierogies. The April 25 celebration includes a pet costume contest and pierogi-eating contest.
Residents and business owners had contemplated a variety of ways to mark the draft but opted for a scaled-back event focused mainly on the local community, said Pam Toto, a South Side resident helping to organize the event.
Toto said she recognizes most visitors will be spending the bulk of their stay at the NFL’s event itself. She’s still hopeful that some may explore the unique communities and businesses throughout the Steel City.
“The reason why people are coming here is for the NFL, but it’s really a great time to showcase Pittsburgh and all we have to offer,” Toto said. “There’s enough time within the draft to branch out beyond the North Shore and the Point. People would be foolish to not get a little taste of all that Pittsburgh has to offer.”
Julia Burdelski and Megan Trotter are TribLive staff writers. Julia can be reached at jburdelski@triblive.com, Megan at mtrotter@triblive.com
