Extreme heat boosts some Valley businesses as people seek cool spaces

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Every degree of extreme heat raises the summer suffering, and Monday's high in Fresno of 108 degrees drove many residents to seek relief in someone else's A/C.

"The weather's been really hot. Thank God for the air conditioner here, it was really fresh and cool," said Mary Baldwin, who took her grandkids to see a movie at Maya Cinemas at Campus Pointe in northeast Fresno Monday.

The theatre says it had a busy Labor Day weekend, and management is expecting busy evenings for the rest of the week as people wait out California-wide Flex Alerts.

RELATED: Flex Alert issued in California amid series of triple-digit heat days during Labor Day weekend

"The kids want to get out of the house, they just got home from school - they don't want to really be home. Parents don't want to be home either, trying to conserve energy and save energy between those 4pm to 9pm hours and that's usually when we get our peak business time," said Marcus Mirelez, assistant manager at Maya Cinemas.

Across the courtyard, The Mad Duck is enjoying a boost in business too, thanks to the heatwave.

With triple digit temperatures forecast through the end of the week, they're inviting people to come cool down with them.

"Come on down to Mad Duck, the A/C's always blasting, we have our awesome little swamp coolers on the patio, we have fans as well to keep everybody nice and comfortable," said assistant general manager Mike Hernandez.

They're prepared in case of a power outage too - with generators on deck.

By nightfall, more people ventured out into the slightly cooler temperatures to get a break from being inside, enjoying dinner under the stars and ice cream.