A display of Superbowl-themed bakery treats greeted customers at the Marshall Hy-Vee on Friday. While some local stores saw customers grab soda and snacks for Superbowl Sunday, other businesses planned to hold events to watch the game on TV.

MARSHALL — For some area residents, Super Bowl LIX is a time to grab some snacks and get together with friends or family to watch the game on TV. This week, Marshall businesspeople said they had already started to see some increased foot traffic in the lead-up to Super Bowl Sunday.

“It’s like another holiday,” said Jeff Thompson, district store director at the Marshall Hy-Vee. With the both the Super Bowl and a snowy weather forecast coming this weekend, things were busy at Hy-Vee on Friday, he said.

“It has picked up here as the week has gone on,” said Eric Luther, manager of Tall Grass Liquor in Marshall. Luther said the liquor store tended to see people preparing to hold their own Super Bowl gatherings at home. At the same time, events for Tropical Night at Southwest Minnesota State University this weekend also added a little to business, he said.

Thompson said Hy-Vee had prepared for the Super Bowl with items like snack trays and bakery treats in team colors. A lot of customers were also picking up soda, he said.

At the same time some area residents were getting ready to watch the Super Bowl at home, other residents and businesses were planning watch parties and other events.

Macey Bofferding, owner of Naptime Baking Co., said she would be selling football-themed cookies and baked goods in Marshall on Saturday.

While she didn’t take pre-orders for the Super Bowl goodies, “There have been quite a few people inquiring about the items I’ll have available,” Bofferding said. “I did a poll on my social media accounts, and 20% (of responses) said they were watching for the halftime show or there for the food.”

In Tracy, Tracy Lanes owner Lonnie Cochran said his business would be adding some bowling to the Super Bowl.

“We just wanted a place for everybody to go and be with their families,” Cochran said. In addition to having open bowling on Sunday, the Tracy Lanes would have the football game on TV, and some special menu items.

“I think it should be pretty busy,” Cochran said. “Normally we have co-ed mixed (bowling) league on Sundays, but they wanted the day off to watch the game.”

Pelican Cove on Lake Shetek is holding its first Super Bowl watch party this weekend, said general manager Crystal Kuechenmeister. The party grew out of events Pelican Cove started hosting earlier in the NFL season.

“When the Vikings were on a winning streak, we started having watch parties,” she said.

Kuechenmeister wasn’t sure how big a crowd the Super Bowl would draw. Previous football watch parties at Pelican Cove had drawn 30 to 50 people, she said.

Area businesspeople weren’t sure if there would be a lot of fans rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs or Philadelphia Eagles in southwest Minnesota. Kuechenmeister said she had mainly seen people wearing Vikings, Packers or Lions team gear at Pelican Cove.

Bofferding said her social media poll showed 45% of responders were cheering for the Chiefs, and 35% for the Eagles.

Among people visiting Tall Grass Liquor, “We’ve seen some Chiefs jerseys,” Luther said. But Luther added he was more of a Vikings fan. “It would’ve been nice to see them win some more games at the end,” he said.