Ahh Construction!

There are tons of different situations that can occur in the retail world. Choosing the right action and knowing when to act are two of the hardest retail decisions in my opinion. However, I have noticed that there are situations that develop that a retailer may not have direct control over. Reacting to those situations can make or break a business.

For example, all summer long there was construction on 28th street. 28th street has tons of businesses on it and is one of the key connecting roads in the area. One specific section of the road had construction constantly, which added about 10-15 minutes to travel time going through that area. I found myself wondering at one point this summer about how the businesses were surviving when there had to be tons of people avoiding the area like the plague. One specific business in particular: the gas station right near the highway which was basically completely blocked off from the usual last minute customers. I personally used to buy almost all of my gas at that station, since it was very convenient and usually pretty competitive price wise. During the summer, it became such a hassle that all I wanted to do when I reached that area was get out of it. I found an alternate way to work and an alternative gas station. It was not worth the hassles.

To make matters worse for those businesses in the construction zone, when the construction was "done" and the orange cones were removed there was a lull of about four days before the cones were BACK! This prompted me to once again use my alternate route and made me wonder just how many other regular customers to businesses in that area that were doing the same thing.

Another store on 28th street visibly affected by the construction was a store called "Williams Furniture" (no, no relation). They lost their lease fairly early in the construction process and did TONS of advertising to try to sell inventory throughout the summer. At one point, there was even a truck that drove around with a huge sign in the back trying to let people know about the deals they could find in the store. This seemed a little extreme when I saw the truck, but it may have been a very effective way of dealing with the construction problem. The traffic that would usually have driven past the store was using alternate routes to avoid the construction. The store used alternative advertising techniques in order to basically claim, "We are still here! Don't forget about us!"

Basically, I feel it is important for future business owners, (and current ones) to realize that outside forces have an effect on customers. Especially in Michigan, construction is going to be an issue, retailers should realize this and be prepared to make it worthwhile for consumers to navigate through the orange barrels to shop at their stores. I'm sure the retailers along 28th street were not exactly thrilled with construction occurring all summer. The end result may help traffic patterns and look pretty at the same time, but I still wonder if there are still people avoiding the street due to habit. Savvy business decisions matter for retailers, but its important to remember that if your customers can't reach you, (or avoid your area) then pretty soon you might have to put a sign out front that reads, "Out of Business."