Another U.S. 127 Corridor Sale is in the books although traffic flow seemed to be even heavier this year around Mountain View Park, revenues generated from the sale for the park board was down significantly from years past.

Exact revenue totals aren’t in yet, but park director Bobby Reneau said on Monday afternoon that he estimates the amount collected by the park board during the sale was about $3,000–well below the over $4,200 total the park was able to generate last year.

Final revenue totals are expected to be in by the time the board holds a call meeting next Tuesday, August 13 to discuss the 127 Sale and upcoming Labor Day weekend events that are being planned at Mountain View Park, specifically on Saturday, August 31.

Reneau contributed various factors as to the decrease in revenues, primarily the drop in vendor spaces that were rented out. Only between 40 to 45 spaces were rented this year, compared to around 70 in 2012.

The park director said there may have been some confusion among some vendors when the board decided to rent some spaces in the Farmers Market building for $100 each. He said some repeat vendors may have believed that the amount involved outdoor spaces, which remained at only $60 per space.

There were a total of nine areas available in the Farmers Market to rent, with three spaces actually being used during the sale.

The continuing poor economy definitely didn’t help the situation, but Reneau said some of the past vendors who were repeats may have set up at other locations along the sale route.

Another change this year was that the park board themselves didn’t handle the food sales, but instead rented out food vendor spaces for $200 each. Although six spots were made available, only one food vendor was actually set up during the long weekend sale, which basically started last Wednesday.

Although vendors set up at the park were down, Reneau said the customer flow seemed to be up a lot from last year. He said signs were put up along the new bypass area directing the traveling public to the park.

One vendor, Glen Helterbrand, an out-of-state repeat seller, was still at the park on Monday and confirmed Reneau’s assessment about a heavier flow of traffic and more customers than last year.

Helterbrand said last year he sold more big ticket items, such as $200 to $300 saddles, and although he sold less larger price items this year, he still made a better profit.

The 127 Sale is the park board’s largest annual fundraiser and money raised during the sale helps to operate and do park maintenance throughout the year.

Even though the proceeds this year, for various factors, were down, Reneau said he believed that the majority of vendors that did set up this year probably made more money than last year.