Sad story about a local business.

[Ilsa]

This little mom and pop bakery/breakfast/lunch place around the corner has been in business for ages, at least the ten years I've lived here. I patronized the business whenever I was looking for taquitos, quick cup of good coffee, sausage kolaches (yummy), and donuts for the kids.

About two years ago the city started redoing the road in front of the business, taking out the old road and pouring concrete. The road is excellent and safer, but it tore up the street so badly for so long, and it made getting into the parking lot a real hassle: driving through mud, bumpity-bumpity over torn up road, etc. Their business went downhill. They lost alot of customers. Now even with the road open but the economy the way it is, they've had to close.

These people were up every morning making pastries and dough and pie, etc, when most people are getting their good ZZZ's. It's not like they were lazy or stuck in a rut. And they didn't close because people are eating healthier; people around here need F350's to haul their fat asses around. (We aren't that far from Houston, one of the fattest cities in 'Murica.)

Sigh.

[Heddi]

1. and I'm sure in its place

will spring up a Papa John's, Pizza Hut, McDonald's, Wal-Mart, or some other unneeded, terribly mediocre "chain" store....and of course, they're just taking over that location to help soothe the mourning the locals are going through having lost a hometown favourite.

I should say that this happened quite a bit when I lived in South Carolina. The roads are pittifully inadequate there, and several times in my lifetime they've gone through and widened busy roads, encroaching upon the storefronts of businesses...cutting down parking size (which decreases spaces), putting up medians where one can't turn left or right (which will decrease traffic b/c no one wants to go down 8 blocks to turn around to turn around to turn around and get back to the store).


I've seen NUMEROUS small businesses (mister donut! My fave! Kicked krispy kreme's ass on so many levels) go under because of "improvement" by the city. OF course, it never fails that once the road is widened, property values or taxes or levys increase, so the businesses can't afford to expand to make up the space that they lost due to 'improvement'.

So generally within 6mos to a year after these "improvements", these locally owned businesses (Which generally have been in the area for GENERATIONS), have to shut down b/c their customer base has decreased, making it virtually impossible for them to pay increased rent, taxes, etc.

And AMAZINGLY....ASTOUNDINGLY, within 2 years (usually less) of the smaller businesses going out of business, a huge conglomerate chain comes in, bulldozes down the old business, buys up all adjacent property of OTHER businesses that had to close, and Whamo! Now you've got a Super Duper SIze Of 18 Football Fields 24 Hour Walmart where 10 mom-n-pop stores used to be.

I do believe that many cities DO THESE THINGS KNOWING WHAT WILL HAPPEN. Walmart, and Best Buy and Target and Gap and such bring in BIG BUCKS to local areas. Plus, cities can now tout that they have FOUR HUNDRED, yes FOUR HUNDRED WAL-MARTS WITHIN A 4 BLOCK AREA hoping to bring in OTHER industry, bring in people moving from other areas, etc.....

and all at the cost of some local businesses....which are slowly going the way of the do-do these days :(

[mitchum]

3. Wow, Heddi..I noticed the exact same thing going on when I lived in SC

You could tell that a small business was not long for the world once the municipal "improvements" began

[Nikia]

2. 2 years is too long for road work

In Wisconsin, they pretty much have to finish by fall before the snow comes so the road is only out for six months maximum.

[Ilsa]

4. The owner of a Circle K

in another section of town that is being "improved" is threatening to sue the city, along with some other business owners, over them blocking ingress and egress from his prime property for so long. They say they are seeing 40% declines in their business over this crap. The original contractor for the project screwed it up and skipped town. It is likely the city was reimbursed from bonding, but they are having to pay a premium to get another contractor to come in and finish the job.

Another factor you didn't detail, Heddi, is that when these businesses go under, they have unpaid state sales tax, etc. It is possible they could end up selling the property for below value (if over loan value) to scrape up enough money to pay their sales and payroll taxes and just get out from under their obligations.