In 2014, the Ithaca Journal’s former storage bays were turned into a downtown retail complex of 6 micro-stores. Noting the area's similarities with Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter books, the shops of Press Bay Alley announced a Wizarding Weekend in October 2015. Originally intended to attract an audience of 100-200 local kids for storytelling and trick-or-treating, word of the event went viral with stories on MTV and elsewhere; in the end over 8,500 wizards, mythical creatures, and muggles (the original kind, not the geocaching variant) showed up here to make some magic in Ithaca.