For all the packed stadium crowds and record Fan Festival attendance, Atlanta's World Cup has not paid off for everyone. A group of 30 small-business vendors is pressing for refunds from Welcome to ATL, the city-sponsored vending program that billed itself as the official small-business activation of the tournament — and that some participants now describe as a costly failure.
The program set up vendor sites at three high-profile downtown locations: The Center (the former CNN Center, now stylized as The CTR), the newly renovated South Downtown district and the pedestrian Steele Bridge at Centennial Yards. About 120 businesses signed up, paying booth fees that started at $600 per two-day match block plus 30% of gross sales. Dozens have since pulled out, leaving rows of empty booths in the stadium's shadow.
The individual losses are stark. Chef Jarvis Williams of Social Express Catering & Meal Prep cleared his summer to test a jerk-bowl concept, spent about $60,000 on fees, equipment, food and labor — and took in $1,200 over four days. Gyro Chef Mediterranean owner Ali Moradi booked four booths, invested $128,000, and sold less than $1,000 before cutting his losses; a planning tool provided to vendors had projected he could gross more than $600,000 for the month. Renea Pierre's family herb shop put in about $18,000 and made $300.
Organizer Candace Mitchell, executive director of consulting firm CVM Worldwide and founder of beauty-tech company Myavana, attributes the rough start to foot traffic and tourism running well below the projections cities were given — the same softness hotels and short-term rentals have reported. Vendors counter that the problems ran deeper, to operational failures and unkept promises of a turnkey setup with branded booths and marketing. The Atlanta Police Department flagged issues with on-site alcohol sales, and sponsor DoorDash exited entirely, apologizing to merchants and duct-taping over its logo on event banners.
The city's role sits in an awkward middle. Showcase Atlanta, the initiative Mayor Andre Dickens created to connect local businesses with mega-events, sponsored and promoted the program but says it had no hand in operations or vendor contracts. The mayor's office has since tried to drive traffic with free programming at The Center, and Dickens posted a video urging residents to play tourist in their own city — an effort affected vendors say came too late.
Mitchell has offered full refunds of vendor fees plus inventory and labor reimbursement for businesses stationed on the Steele Bridge and in South Downtown, and says she wants an amicable resolution. The vendor group calls that remedy too narrow, demanding refunds for all locations and the return of the 30% revenue cut. Meanwhile, vending continues at The Center — where Mitchell says sales are actually growing — through Atlanta's final match, the July 15 semifinal.
The episode is a cautionary counterweight to a summer of downtown wins: mega-event economics are unevenly distributed, and the gap between projection and reality can swallow a small business whole.
Original reporting: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (2026-07-09)