(Photo by Christina Estes - KJZZ)

Chad Towe traveled from Sacramento to sell President Donald Trump merchandise outside the Phoenix Convention Center.

Uncertainty over crowd sizes and potential violence before or after President Donald Trump’s rally led several downtown businesses to close early Tuesday while some entrepreneurs cashed in.

Six hours after setting up shop across from the Phoenix Convention Center, Chad Towe was racking up strong sales.

“Our Make America Great Again hats are still off the hook today,” he said.

Towe traveled from Sacramento to sell Trump merchandise. As he works the crowd from a corner, his partners work the long line of ticket holders.

“People who are stuck are easier to get to,” he explained.” They’re not going nowhere.”

And, they’re getting thirsty, which is good for Lonnie Pollard. To downtown regulars, Pollard is known for Yogi’s Bistro, a cart where he serves gourmet hot dogs. But Trump supporters and protestors are mostly drawn to his water.

“My bottles of water went from $2 to $3,” he said. “You know its supply and demand. Even right now, my prices are $3 to $4 cheaper than inside the convention center.”

What Pollard might consider a bargain for customers is also a jackpot for him.

“This is along the lines of working a concert or a carnival or something like that,” he said. “There’s probably about 10 or 15,000 people out here smelling my food versus on a daily basis. I’d probably see about 600 people foot traffic.”

Several bars and restaurants at the Collier Center and CityScape closed their doors early. The Arrogant Butcher hired two Phoenix police officers for the night.

“Just to make sure we had some presence for ourselves and the restaurant,” said Elias Hristou, general manager. “Otherwise, it’s just kind of business as usual.”

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