Halloween on Main Street depends on the businesses along it. Participating merchants hand out the candy, so every Halloween the route works as a list of who holds Main Street. This Saturday, October 31, two of the longest-running family names on that list are gone. The cap on chain stores south of Heber Avenue filled up this summer, and that changes who can take the next storefront that opens on the lower half of the street.
Saturday, October 31, Before You Leave the House
Historic Park City Alliance lists the 2026 event for Saturday, October 31, from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., running from 900 down to 200 Main Street. The Alliance's Halloween on Main Street page lists the standard event details:
- Street closure: Main Street closes to cars at 2 p.m. and is expected to reopen around 6:30 p.m.
- China Bridge: $15 flat-rate parking. The drop-off, pickup and taxi area is on the top level starting at 2 p.m.
- Richardson Flat Park-and-Ride: Free parking and free transit. Buses run every 20 minutes starting at 2:15 p.m., and the last bus back to Richardson Flat leaves Old Town Transit Center at 7:45 p.m.
- City Transit: Free, and dogs on leashes can ride.
The Alliance notes that Travel + Leisure named the event one of the top Halloween celebrations in the country. It's also one of the few Main Street events built for both two-legged and four-legged guests in costume.
The Candy Comes From the Storefronts
The Alliance describes the trick-or-treating as "compliments of participating merchants." The doorways that hand out treats are the businesses that hold leases on the street that afternoon. When a lease changes hands, so does that stop on the route.
Two of those stops changed this year, and the reasons connect.
530 Main Street Is No Longer a Pizza Counter
Main Street Pizza & Noodle closed permanently on April 5 after 35 years at 530 Main Street. KPCW reported that rising rent drove the closure. TownLift reported that owner Rick Smith cited rising rents and growing pressure from national tenants. He said the restaurant had served millions of guests.
The next tenant is Alo, the Los Angeles activewear brand. In August, TownLift reported that Alo was set to take over the space below Riverhorse on Main. That puts it alongside lululemon, Vuori and The North Face on the same stretch. As of an October 9, 2026 update, Park City's chain business list shows ALO, LLC at 530 Main. No opening date has been announced.
The Chain Cap South of Heber Avenue Is Full
Alo matters for more than one address. Park City approved its chain business ordinance on August 17, 2017. It limits national and multistate retailers on Main Street to 24 storefronts across two districts.
| District | Where it sits | Chain cap | Chains listed as of August 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Historic Commercial Business | Main Street south of Heber Avenue | 17 | 17 |
| Historic Recreation Commercial | North of Heber Avenue | 7 | 5 |
Alo is the 17th entry in the Historic Commercial Business District. TownLift reported that, with Alo added, no other chain can open a storefront in that district until a spot frees up. Two chain spots remain citywide, both north of Heber Avenue. The district's chain list includes Patagonia at 632 Main, Arc'teryx at 570 Main, Chip Cookies at 523 Main and the 7-Eleven at 525 Main.
Here's what that means on the street. Until a current chain leaves, any storefront that opens up in the stretch where most of Saturday's trick-or-treating happens has to go to a business the city doesn't classify as a conventional chain.
Top of Main Is Dark, and Its Next Owners Want Local Tenants
The second empty stop is at the top of the street. Top of Main Brew Pub closed for its usual shoulder season on April 13 and never reopened. TownLift reported in May that building owner Greg Schirf was selling the property, which ended nearly 40 years of brewing there. Schirf opened Wasatch Brewery on the site in 1986, when it was Utah's only brew pub and modern brewery. Squatters Pubs had run the business for about a decade. Its CEO, Andrew Bebbington, told TownLift the company was working to place most of the staff at its other pubs, including Squatters Roadhouse Grill in Park City.
As of TownLift's May report, the building was under contract to Treecrest Real Estate, a Park City ownership group, and the sale had not closed. The building is nearly 13,000 square feet. The leasing agent said the buyers are longtime locals with existing commercial holdings on Main Street, and that they're considering splitting the space for several tenants, which could open it to smaller local businesses. "We would absolutely love to have a local business," she told TownLift. No tenant or opening date has been announced.
City Councilmember Tana Toly spoke about both closures at a council meeting this spring. Her family owns Red Banjo Pizza Parlour on Main. "It's just so hard to keep seeing businesses that have been there for decades close, especially family-friendly ones," she said, as TownLift reported.
The two closures pull in different directions. At 530 Main, a national brand used the district's last chain spot. At Top of Main, the incoming owners say they want local tenants. With the cap now full south of Heber Avenue, local or independent businesses are the only kind that can fill the next openings there unless a chain store leaves.
City Hall Is Looking at the Garage You Park in Saturday
The China Bridge garage, where Saturday's $15 parking and drop-off happen, sits at the center of the city's own plans for the area. At an August 20, 2026 discussion, the City Council asked staff for a more detailed plan covering China Bridge, the Brew Pub lot and Swede Alley, along with timelines and a financial analysis.
KPCW's account of the meeting reported that the council made China Bridge its top priority. The garage's southern section has an estimated five to 10 years of life left, and the council wants to decide its future before the 2034 Olympics. Council members supported a gondola connecting Main Street to Deer Valley Resort's Snow Park Village, which could cost $33 million to $55 million depending on where the towers go. They agreed to treat that aerial transit separately from the Main Street and Swede Alley upgrades.
KPCW also reported the reason behind the effort. A staff report showed about 4.5 million trips to the Main Street area in 2019 and 2021. That number has declined gradually since 2022, to about 4.17 million in 2025, which is 9% below the peak. Inflation-adjusted spending per visit has dropped too. One council member said the city code calls for Swede Alley to be subordinate to Main Street and that this "needs to just change dramatically." City staff are expected to return with detailed plans, timelines and financial analysis "in a few months," so the council has set its priorities but hasn't approved a specific design or schedule.
Three Weeks After the Candy, the Lifts
Park City Mountain is aiming to open Friday, November 20, 2026, depending on weather and conditions. The resort lists Legacy Cafe, Legends Bar and Grill and Jupiter Java at the Mountain Village base as opening that day. Vail Resorts' winter guide still describes skiing down to Main Street and riding Town Lift back up, and it announces no Town Lift project for this season. This winter's new project is at Canyons Village. The Eagle and Eaglet replacements and the Crescent retrofit at Mountain Village are planned for the 2027/28 season.
When the lifts open and skiers come down Main Street, 530 Main will be headed toward a new tenant, and Top of Main will still be waiting for one.
If you own on or near Main Street and want to know how a new tenant at 530 Main, a divided Top of Main building or a rebuilt China Bridge could affect your property, Selling the Slopes is happy to walk the block with you after the costumes come off.
