With the weather warming up, downtown Sioux Falls stores hope business will heat up. 

Foot traffic has been important for downtown businesses for more than a century.

“You just see more people out and about shopping when the weather is nice,” Megan Bergquist said. 

Now those feet are facing new technology. Downtown Sioux Falls Inc. has placed four pedestrian counters in the area. 

“We want to make sure that we’re giving the existing businesses the information they need to make sound business decisions. We also want to help recruit businesses to downtown,” DTSF President Joe Batcheller said.

Batcheller says so far the counters are revealing information you might expect. Downtown is busier on Fridays and the weekend. Traffic also peaks around noon and then from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.  

 “That’s information businesses can use to adjust their store hours,” Batcheller said.

Batcheller says Sundays are actually one of the busier days. Just a few years ago, most of the downtown businesses were closed on the first day of the week.

“More and more stores are staying open on Sundays,” Batcheller said. 

More changes could be in store depending on what the new technology reveals.

“That way we know how many people are coming into our restaurant and if we’re getting busier because of the weather,” Minervas Restaurant Employee Megan Bergquist said. 

DTSF doesn’t want to pinpoint the locations of the counters to avoid vandalism.  They would like to get more of them in the future.