The 1983 holiday staple “A Christmas Story” was partially filmed on Cleveland’s west-side. And cable networks plow through hours of programming looping the on screen calamities
of Little Ralphie and his family….from tongues stuck on flagpoles to the constant quest for a Red Ryder BB gun.
Turns out the high profile TV marathon – combined with kids on Christmas break – spikes visitation between Christmas and New Year’s to nearly double the weekly average for A Christmas Story House and Museum.
Owner Brian Jones says some publicity is planned, and sometimes it’s all fan-based.
“We’ve done a lot of conventions, we do press releases. I’d say probably one of our best things though has been advertising with Destination Cleveland. They helped get the word out about our location. And fans just find it. And once some people have come and they’ve had a good time, they tell their friends about it, they take pictures, and the word just kinda spreads word of mouth.”
A spokeswoman for the attraction says they average about 7,000 visitors in the final week of the year. That’s a fair chunk out of their annual number of 50,000 visitors.
Not to mention, all those sales of pink bunny suits and leg lamps.