by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Despite heavy traffic and limited parking because of ongoing construction along Park Street, Five Points merchants say business in the historic shopping district is surviving.
A conceptual plan that has been in the works for nearly 20 years, the estimated $1 million streetscape and utility upgrades began in January. It is being funded by the City, JEA and private sector, mostly by Five Points businesses.
“We might be more fortunate than some of the other businesses, but we’re doing pretty well, much better than I originally had predicted,” said David Joudi, owner and manager of Riverside Liquors & Village Wine Shop.
Joudi estimated his business has dropped around five percent since construction efforts began. He attributed the marginal loss to an existing and long running track record with Riverside residents.
“Sure, a lot of that has to do with the fact that we’ve been here for 38 years and have established a clientele who are going to do business with us no matter what,” he said. “Some people may avoid the area, but others will find ways to get to us.”
Other business owners agreed, saying that having a solid reputation helps weather parking and traffic congestion woes.
“Our business has been fine because we have a loyal customer base to support us,” said Barbara Tendell, manager of Lifestyles furniture store. “We were, of course, concerned just before the project started because we weren’t sure of how badly we would be affected, but it’s wonderful to see how well it’s worked out so far.”
Tendell, like Joudi, said the final product — widened sidewalks, historic lighting and new landscaping — should be worth a few months of aggravation.
“If people happen to complain, we do our best to explain what’s happening here,” she said. “We’re very excited about this — the owners of this store were big contributors to it — and we want that to translate over to our customers.”
Robin Holton, owner of Aloha Paradise clothing store, has tried her best to make sure it’s business as usual, even as a steamroller rattles the foundation of her store.
“We understood that this was going to be a challenge,” she said. “It’s been in the works for a long, long time and we all wanted it to happen. We’re really proud of this so you have to be prepared for dips in your business from time to time.”
Holton regularly sweeps the newly laid sidewalk in front of her store and others.
A “lost cause,” say some until construction wraps later this year, but Holton pays no mind.
“It’s still our Five Points and we still think it’s necessary to take care of it, even if it’s a little dusty,” she said. “I know our regular customers feel badly for us while this is going on and, in turn, we try our best to let them know where it’s OK to park.
“We’re lucky to have them.”
And when “regular customers” don’t quite provide a level needed to thrive, businesses, including clothing store Milo have been “more aggressive” with foot traffic and casual shopping in Five Points at an all-time low.
“For a while, it was OK because people were really happy for us, just very excited to see the project underway,” said Daisy Chavers, owner of Milo. “People wanted to come in and be supportive, but we’re being more affected as the months go by because it really is a mess out there and they’re getting tired of it.”
According to the City’s Public Works Department, construction efforts are ahead of schedule. Work that was originally scheduled to take six months to complete on the east side of Park Street is nearly finished after only three.
To Chavers’ that’s a godsend.
She said her profits are down nearly 25 percent when compared to this time last year, maybe more. To make up for that, she’s extended her store’s hours and has even scheduled “invite-only parties” in hopes that people will show up and, more importantly, be encouraged to buy.
“Those kinds of things really do help, but honestly, I don’t know if we could have made it if this project lasted for how long they said it was supposed to,” she said. “We’ve lost so much of the business that we got from people casually driving by and it really is hard to make up for that after a while.”
However, Chavers does look forward to the potential business headed to Five Points when the workers are gone and improved parking is left in their place.
“I think it’s going to be awesome, it has to be,” she said. “So much work has gone into this project and we all have really high hopes for what it can do to this area. It definitely can’t hurt.”