Salchow's company, which is based on Internet sales, saw business grow steadily as the playoff run went on.

"We had been doing quite well selling our "Super Favre" shirts (which crossed the Superman logo with Favre's jersey number) all year," Salchow says. "We were also about to launch an eBay sale of our "Party Like it's 1996" shirts, much like we did for the Bears' trip last season."

The "Party Like its 1985" shirt was one of the company's all-time best-sellers. Insomniac Ink also planned to participate in event with a local sports radio station. Now, Salchow says, the company's focus will turn to the Brewers.

"We've already see a jump in sales of our Brewers gear," Salchow says. "People seem to be looking forward towards baseball season."

Bars, not surprisingly, probably stand to lose the most from the Packers' loss. Local establishments are routinely packed on Packer Sundays and few seats were available during the playoffs.

Whether it was a local, neighborhood tavern, an upscale Milwaukee Street club or a Water Street staple, being at a bar during the playoffs was the next best thing to being at Lambeau Field.

Wally Paget has no plans to scale back his bar's Super Bowl festivities. The owner of Buck Bradley's, 1019 N. Old World 3rd St., will have the bar open all day with numerous specials. The Packers' loss put was disappointing, but from a business standpoint, Super Bowl Sunday is a can't-miss proposition.

"We did well with our Sunday promotions throughout the year," Paget says. "There's going to be a definite downturn in business, I understand that. But I had already worked out some things with Beer Capital (a local distributor) and Coors Light (an official NFL sponsor), so I'm still going with it."

Business at Buck Bradley's was solid throughout the season, but actually reached a zenith for a game that didn't involve the Packers. The Cowboys and Giants were playing their divisional playoff game on a Sunday night while Hannah Montana played a show at the Bradley Center. Paget says most of his crowd that night in the packed bar was parents who wanted to see if the Packers would host the NFC Championship Game.

"It was really amazing," Paget says. "The place was completely filled with parents who dropped their kids off at the concert. They came to watch the game and you could tell when the show let out because the cell phones started ringing and there was a mad rush to the back door."