Grown Ups 2 Grew Some Small Businesses' Bottom Lines

Managers and owners at Humphrey Street eateries saw customer traffic increase by a little or a lot from Adam Sandler's filming of in Swampscott this summer.

Other businesses and individuals in town saw an increase in their cash flow, too.

Columbia Pictures rented local homes and properties for actors to stay in and for filming needs. In addition, they must have spent a good amount of money for police officers and firefighter to work details.

Over on Humphrey Street, moving from Redington toward the movie set, we surveyed restaurants and sandwich shops on movie related money spent at their establishments.

manager Krystin Quinn said they catered to movie sets on seven occasions, cooking up 200 hot dogs each time and dishing out slushes, ice cream and sundaes.

Adam Sandler visited Popo's. They gave him and his children Kell's Kreme T-shirts, she said.

The actor also stopped in at . As did Kevin James and Maya Rudolph, said restaurant owner Laurie Pezzano.

Word of the stars visits brought a rush of customers for a few days, but otherwise the movie's influence on business was minor, she said.

Nearby, at , owner Charles Gomes said the movie's impact on commerce was very minor. The summer is a busy time for Hot Cheese, anyways, he said, but there was no major uptick in business as a result of the movie.

They sold a few pizzas and sandwiches to movie people. Adam Sandler's wife came in one day.

At , manager Karen Lin said the movie definitely helped business. They saw a lot of new faces during the time the movie was being shot, probably an increase of about 5 percent, she said.

"We love that," she said. And they are looking forward to seeing the movie when it comes out next July.

Farther down Humphrey, at , owner Nunzio Freddo said he saw a major increase in business.

The boost started with the construction of the nearby sound stage and continues as the stage is emptied and will soon come down. There were and are a lot of hungry workers, and some of them stop in for breakfast and lunch, he said.

The store also catered for sets. A few times they got calls at 11:45 pm with orders for 100 pizzas and French fries.

And Cindy's did regular deliveries for Kevin James and Salma Hayek. And Maria Bello came in and ordered an Italian sandwich and fries one day.

Nunzio estimated the movie increased his business by 10 percent or more.

Todd Flannery, owner of, said his company did trash pick-up at three homes in town where stars were staying.

With nannies, maids and chefs staying at the homes, they generated a lot of trash and the Handymen hauled it.

Columbia Pictures has not announced what they spent in Swampscott but movie location manager Mark Fitzgerald estimated for Marblehead selectmen the amount the movie people spent in Marblehead this summer.

"I asked the accounting department to do a computer search of our Marblehead checks using the Marblehead zip code and the last time I looked that figure was at $4,364,000 and climbing," Fitzgerald said. "Some of our bills are still owed and we still owe the police department a good chunk of change, which will be paid."

The majority of that $4.4 million, Fitzgerald said, was spent renting out local homes for crew members, businesses for filming and on day-to-day needs including furniture and food.