Good news out of the Sept. 16 Downtown Community Redevelopment meeting: In an early read, MainStreet DeLand Association delivered some promising news after numbers showed business is up in Downtown DeLand after the new SunRail station became operational. The city of DeLand’s Facebook is up 115,000 in post engagements. 

 “We found that in the two months, there has been an upward trend, and we do believe that’s because of SunRail,” said Wayne Carter, MainStreet DeLand’s executive director.

On average, shoppers in Downtown DeLand are spending $78 on dining and $107 on retail, according to Mainstreet DeLand. 

On top of an increase in sales, DeLand SunRail was the highest click through on Google with Downtown DeLand coming in second according to MainStreet DeLand’s Google data analytics.