Shot from Granite Street. I certainly won't have traffic off of Goodwin today. Maybe I should close or something for the day???
Two days ago a guy showed up in front of our stores on Goodwin Street with some barricades. The notes on them read that parking would be closed for the remainder of the week.
Yesterday there was no parking in front of our shops to be had, traffic was rerouted as a crew dug up part of Goodwin to put in some conduits for utilities. Hey, I know all about getting conduits into places for utilities. Scheduling is a pain to be sure.
Today I pulled into the gallery to find that the sidewalk in front of the store is CLOSED from Montezuma to Granite Street. So, if you want to get into the store through the front you’re totally out of luck.
Fortunately, there’s parking in the Granite Street garage, and you can come in through the back of the plaza. Unfortunately, I think most people aren’t aware of that.
In total, I had 4 customers come in yesterday. That was it. My neighboring business wasn’t much better. Parking does impact traffic flow in the plaza to be sure. But so that we’re all clear…..Yes, we’re open, just come around through the back.
Supposedly this should all be finished up tomorrow. I’m skeptical about that. They’re preparing to get into the sidewalk right now. I’ve never seen sidewalk torn up and repoured in a 24 hour period, but then again all of my utilities work took place on the East Coast.
Two things that bug me just a tad as a downtown business owner.
- We were not contacted regarding the work in front of our shops by anyone who was scheduling the work.
- This is Labor Day weekend. If for some reason the work isn’t finished up we could be severely impacted. Not saying they won’t finish on time, but I’ve gone over build out schedules in my past career, and I know anything can happen. Whoever scheduled this work days before a holiday weekend in a town that thrives on tourism should be fired and replaced by someone who understands the concept of minimizing impact to the business that help support the tax base.
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May I suggest designing direction posters to be placed on 2 boards with 2 wide webbing shoulder straps to be worn like the “Sandwich” man advertisers of the 19th Century.
If business is slow, it might be fun parading about while wearing an eye-catching hat and signs to advertise the gallery. The cost of materials probably would be a business write-off. In San Diego, this is legal on a public sidewalk as long as you are moving.