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4:13 PM, Feb 27, 2020

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Live music tickets, wedding dresses selling fast as final COVID restrictions lift

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Posted at 11:30 PM, Jun 22, 2021
and last updated 2021-06-22 23:30:29-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The world is moving again. For co-owner of Pyramid Scheme, Tami VandenBerg, it's been a crazy time.

“Finally, we can fill our business again,” VandenBerg said.

The live music venue is hosting its first show, since Friday the 13th in 2020. Scheduled for July 10, they're having the same band who played their soft-opening a decade ago play their re-opening after the pandemic.

“Do not sleep on buying your tickets. They’re going faster than I’ve ever seen our tickets go,” Vandenberg said.

Wedding dresses are also flying off the shelves, faster than the senior buyer for Renee Austin Bridal can buy them.

“Like hotcakes,” Renee Austin senior buyer Eliza Maxwell said.

Eliza Maxwell says it's because brides can finally look forward to planning a wedding again, with more certainty. They've started a sample sale for those who need a dress sooner rather than later.

“All these brides, they’re actually able to plan their weddings now. So they need a dress, like, today,” Maxwell said.

It's a light at the end of the tunnel, after a dark year, for both businesses.

“The minute announcement came in. I think it was July 1st at first, and then they moved it up to today, which is fabulous. All of our phones and inboxes were just blowing up, with promoters, musicians, fans,” VandenBerg said.

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