Business booms to Jordin’s tunes

Jordin Sparks has ridden a wave of popularity to tonight’s “American Idol” finals, and her star power has brought Westgate City Center and several Glendale businesses along for the trip.

The 17-year-old Glendale resident landed a spot on the show Feb. 14, and it didn’t take long for the West Valley to embrace the teenager, inspiring West Valley businesses to capitalize on her success and popularity.

Westgate City Center jumped on the bandwagon early. Officials from the shopping plaza in Glendale began offering viewing parties in the plaza of the center during the fifth week of the competition. The parties are free to the public, and hundreds of fans show up every weekend.

Westgate spokesman Jeff Hecht said the center doesn’t directly make any money from the free events, but the exposure will go a long way in getting people out to the West Valley.

“We obviously want to throw our support behind the local star, but this has people coming out from all over the Valley to see what we are about,” he said. “There may be more eyes on the TV on Wednesday than were watching the BCS game in Glendale this January.

“We have a whole different audience following this than anything else we have done out here,” he said.

Restaurants at the center have also seen an increase in patrons during the weeknights Sparks sings on the television show.

“Our tenants are very pleased with the turnout,” Hecht said.

Westgate was the location of Sparks’ homecoming segment for the “Idol” show, and Hecht said it worked out well for the center’s businesses.

“When you have an 8,000-person rally in 104-degree heat with an ice cream shop on one side and a coffee shop on the other, those businesses are obviously pleased,” he said.

Meanwhile, Star Dot Star design has leaped onto the scene as the Web site designers for the official Jordin Sparks fan club. Owners Jim and Lisa Sipe knew the Sparks family and wanted to help rather than profit from Jordin’s success.

“We just genuinely wanted to do something to help,” Lisa Sipe said. “We wanted to get her name out there.”

Business has taken off for the small Phoenix design shop. Web traffic has increased 700 percent.

“It’s given us an easy way to meet new customers,” Sipe said.

The logo design, which features a vector or reduced-detail image of Sparks on top of a red star, has been broadcast on television, the Internet and is starting to make its way onto merchandise.

“We felt the best way to brand her was to use her face, since not a lot of people at the time knew what she looked like,” Sipe said. “The star represents what she is destined to be.”

On Wednesday, Sipe and the rest of the nation will find out how bright that star will shine.