The Parkade created some much needed excitement and brought shoppers back to downtown Cedar Falls.  While the city remodeled the street itself, merchants updated and refurbished their stores to bring a complete facelift to the downtown.  Merchants saw a sharp rise in business after completion of the project.  Before the Parkade, customers were more localized.  However, after all of the positive press that the Parkade received, many customers came from all over Northeast Iowa to see the new attraction.