The costs of tunnel construction: how small business pays

We dread leaving the neighborhood.  We totally get why people don't want to come down S. Braddock Avenue on most weekends.  And we all understand the cost in time spent in the car, frayed nerves, errands that never seem to get done. 

From the small business perspective, though, there is a lot more going on. 

   

Most people do their errands on the weekends. They go out to eat.  They buy stuff!  They spend money!  That means most of our business happens on weekends too. The majority of our sales week occurs in those two days.  When those two days are not robust, our week tanks. 

Small businesses do not get the kinds of wholesale prices the bigger guys do.  The bigger you are, the more volume you buy, the bigger your discount.  So for tiny shops, the wholesale price is pretty darn high, leaving us with very tight margins.  When we lose a big percentage of weekly sales, our margins dwindle accordingly and there is not a lot of room left.  

For some small businesses, that means having to let staff go.  For some, it means cutting back on services or offerings.  For some, it means closing the doors, sometimes still with leases in place that must be paid. 

From the customer's perspective, some people will now find it easier or even necessary to do their errands close to work instead of the shops they have been patronizing.  Since this tunnel construction project is so long in duration , these customers develop new shopping habits: they may be lost to the small shop as a loyal and returning customer forever. 

   

One of the big sales mantras is that once you get a customer, work as hard as you can to keep them; it is always better to keep a customer than to have to go get a new one.  Well, loyal customers can't get to many of the businesses they've so loyally patronized. So if those businesses can survive, they have to work four times as hard...they have to keep bringing new people in, and rebuild that lost portion of the customer base.  

I was speaking to a customer yesterday who told me a really illustrative story.   We'll call him S.  S likes lunch.  It is his favorite meal, and he works about a two minute drive from the Strip District, when everything is open and running smoothly.  S spends about $10 on lunch approximately 15 days a month in the Strip.  When the 32cnd Street Bridge was closed, he couldn't get to the Strip in less than 20 minutes.  So for about a year, his money didn't go to those businesses - he brought his lunch from home or found places to eat on "his" side of the bridge.  That is over $1700, from only one customer.  Now multiply that by the thousands of people in similar circumstances.  Did S go back to the Strip for lunch after the bridge re-opened?  Not as often.  His habits changed. 

Friends have told me of their frustration in not being able to get to events around the city, kid's Little League games, picnics and family events, and many other examples.  Everyone seems to understand why construction can't happen in the winter, but many are baffled at why it must happen during the weekends, throughout the days, interfering with (it seems) as much as possible. Why not during the weeknights?   We are, we admit, kinda baffled too. 

Has anyone else felt the effects of tunnel closures in ways not normally highlighted in the media?   

Of course, we truly appreciate all of you who are sticking with us and braving the situation.  it is tough, but we'll stick it out and find ways to diversify.  And we are not the only ones - this situation holds true for so very many local establishments.  So remember, when you want to scream in traffic, we all honestly, deeply, appreciate that you make the trip in to our places.