JACKSON MERCHANTS RECOVERING FROM UNEXPECTED PROLONGED PAVING PROJECT

JACKSON -- Walk-in business is the lifeblood of a retail store. Without it, sales slump.

But that's what happened in a part of Jackson last summer.

During June, July, August, and early September many businesses in the 100 to 400 blocks of West Main Street experienced slumping sales during the West Main Street paving project, said business owners.

"It was certainly a bad summer for me," said Judy Sander, owner and operator of Judy's, a women's clothing store in the 100 block of West Main. "All of my business comes through the front door of the shop, and from early June until the first week of September there wasn't a lot of traffic coming in the front door. It certainly caused a drop in sales."

Next door, Sander's husband, James Sander, owner and operator of Sander's Hardware, said the construction had the most impact on the store's housewares and gift section on the first floor. "I think we would have seen an increase in sales on the first floor during the that period if it hadn't been for the street being torn up," he said. "The first-floor sales were down significantly, but our hardware sales in the basement store were not affected. In fact, they were actually up during that period."

He suggested two reasons sales stayed up in the basement store. He said a back door enters from a large parking lot at the rear and more men than women patronize the basement store. "I don't think men worry about the inconvenience of getting into the store as do most ladies," he said.

Another business that lost sales was Professional Hearing Aid Center, 127 W. Main. Owner Jack Rushin said he depends on walk-in traffic.

"The biggest problem I had was when the sidewalk was torn up in front of the store, he said. "My customers couldn't get into the store. Some of them could not walk over all the gravel, concrete forms and other stuff."

Rushin said he hasn't advertised for the past three months "because it wouldn't do any good. The customers couldn't have gotten into the store even if they wanted to," he said.

Leonard Bodenschatz, who owns Leonard's Seed Center, said the delay in reopening Main Street hurt sales of lawn fertilizer and chemicals and pet foods. "We were hit the hardest in July and August when these items sell the best," said Bodenschatz. "Our sales come from walk-in traffic, and people just weren't coming in because the street was torn up and there was no place to park."

David Holcomb, who has a Subway sandwich shop at 402 W. Main, said he was luckier than other merchants because customers could get to his business from Oklahoma Street. But Holcomb said after the north side of West Main was torn out, "business really fell off. I would say it (paving project) cut my summer sales in half during the time the street was closed," Holcomb said.

Holcomb, who recently opened a similar store in Perryville, said he'll try to retrieve customers that were lost.

Meanwhile, other merchants and businesses in the three-block area of West Main say business and sales are slowly increasing as old and new customers begin walking through the front doors.

Jim Sander said he's already had a couple of good weekends since both lanes of West Main were reopened to traffic in early September. "We're looking forward to November and December, which are our best sales months for the housewares and gift sections," he said.

Judy Sander said, "Things have really picked up for me since that group (the paving contractor) left town."

Rushin said his customers are also returning and business has improved. But Rushin said he still worries about the condition of the sidewalk in front of his store and its impact on elderly customers.

Bodenschatz said he feels more comfortable as sales continue to climb.

The old, uneven street was taken out and it and the sidewalks were replaced with concrete.

The work was originally awarded in April to R&R Concreters of Jackson at a price of $192,967. A week later R&R withdrew its bid, and SIS Inc. of Creal Springs was awarded the contract for $295,975.

The work was supposed to have started as soon as school closed in late May, but it did not begin until early June. The first concrete was poured June 16, but the following week some 1,200 feet of new pavement was declared defective by the city engineer because it did not meet specifications.

The paving work resumed after an agreement was reached with the contractor to replace a part of the defective pavement in the center lane. However, the work was halted at least two more times in July and August, when it was discovered that some of the pavement was also defective and had to be replaced.

According to the city inspector's office, the West Main Street paving job was officially completed Sept. 4. But there remains a conflict between the city and SIS over the amount of the final payment because some of the work did not meet specifications, the city said.