HAMILTON, Ohio — Glen Huey knows the phases of the eclipse extremely well.
He stares at them dozens of times everyday—in donut form.
The owner of The Donut Dude in Liberty Township is selling a box of nine donuts that mimic, out of buttercream, the moon eclipsing the sun.
Huey said he came up with the idea as a fun way for people to have a few donuts to get excited for the eclipse, and then the orders started piling up.
“People called from St. Petersburg, Florida, Orlando, Florida, someplace in Maryland, north of us in Salina, Ohio,” he said. “A lady came in and said her sister sent her a picture from the front page or one of the pages of the Dallas-area newspaper as well.”
Two weeks out from the eclipse, the Donut Dude had orders for 200 boxes, most of which will be picked up the day before the April 8 eclipse. (The shop is usually closed Monday, and Huey said he’ll be with his wife looking up from their home.)
“This is the part of the business I enjoy,” he said. “The creativity.”
In the path of totality, businesses like Huey’s are embracing creativity to meet demand for eclipse-related items to commemorate the once-in-a-lifetime event.
The celestial event is projected to bring over 1 million visitors to Ohio and Indiana, according to tourism officials. That’s in addition to the locals wanting to embrace the event at home.
Hamilton-based Unsung Salvage Design Company said sales of their three screen-printed eclipse shirts have been picking up.
There’s a 5-colored eclipse design, a stenciled yellow on black design, and a Hamilton-branded design.
The shop found success creating merchandise for the 2017 eclipse, even though Ohio wasn’t in the path of totality, said Justin Carder, who owns the store along with his brothers Jason and Dondi.
“When we found out there was going to be an actual total eclipse, I was like man, we got to come up with some cool designs,” he said.
Even two weeks out, the store has sold “quite a few” both in-person and online.
“We feel like it’s our responsibility almost to have a commemorative shirt available,” Dondi said.
Across the river at Municipal Brew Works, lead brewer Ehren Vannenmacher can’t keep the “Path of Totality” beer in stock.
“We’ve sold so much of it, which has been nuts,” he said. “It’s taken off like crazy.”
Though it's labeled as a German Altbier, Municipal Brew Works co-owner Jim Goodman said it really isn't a true Altbier. “Because this is a celestial event, we went with the galaxy hops,” he said.
Though it is extra, the draught can comes in a 16-ounce glow-in-the-dark cup, “so when the sun is eclipsed, we’ll glow in the dark.” Goodman said the city OK’d that cup being the designated DORA cup for April 8, the day of the eclipse.
The brewer said 1,300 12-ounce six-packs are available through a distributor, but that shipments to places like Jungle Jim’s have already sold out.
“We had to brew another nine barrels just so we would have enough to tap on the day of the Eclipse,” Vannenmacher said.
“People are super excited about the Eclipse. People love beer, and it just happens we got one out,” Vannenmacher said. “I think people are just really excited for it.”
