Stores Going Out of Business Due to Construction?

It seems like it’s been about a year since the construction in Exeter first started and there really doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. Roads have been closed and entrances to certain businesses were blocked off at one point just to “better” Exeter. For a resident in the surrounding area and actually working in Exeter it seems like the construction has caused more of a hassle then anything.

When the construction first started I know that I was late to work more then once because traffic was so backed up and there was really no way to avoid it. Thinking about how the construction was affecting me I started to wonder how it affected the local businesses that were right in the mix of all the construction.

The first business that I went to was the Turkey Hill gas station and they did not really express any hardships from the construction, even though they lost a little land they were paid for it in the end. This wasn’t really a surprise because gas is kind of a necessity, but what about the stores that aren’t? I then went over to Arby’s and Gravity and they both seemed to be impacted more by the construction then Turkey Hill did.

When I asked the manager at Arby’s how he felt about the construction he said, “It sucks. When the roads were closed access to the store was very difficult but now it’s not really that much of a big deal.”

The store that was affected the most however, was Gravity. This wasn’t a surprise that they were affected because not only did they have the construction going against them but they are also a newer store, so they don’t have the regular customers yet. What did surprise me though was when the owner, Robert Tyson, told me “I’ve had customers come in and say that they didn’t stop in more because of the construction”. He also explained how since there store was a destination store that people usually thought about going before they’d come and the construction would sometimes make them decide to come another day.

Although the construction is supposed to be helping Exeter, it seems like it may be hurting the local stores at the moment and not helping them. I mean, how can a store benefit from the increased traffic if they’re forced to close their doors before the construction is finished?

Photo by Erin Haynes