Selkirk Avenue businesses ‘in a world of hurt’ due to road closure

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This article was published 26/05/2016 (3450 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

No street, no sidewalks, no customers.

That’s the lament of many Selkirk Avenue business owners who say the closure of Selkirk from Salter Street to McGregor Street – and later this summer from MacGregor to Arlington Street — is reducing revenue by 50-80 per cent and forcing them to lay off staff.

“We’re dying, to put it bluntly,” said Dalton Dennis, owner of Lloyd’s Quick Printing and The One Visual Communications. “The businesses are hurting, whether it’s a dentist’s office or a pharmacy….you name it. We’re in a world of hurt.”

Construction workers began ripping up the street on May 9, and expect to be completed by July 31, for phase one of the project. According to the city, phase two, from McGregor to Arlington, is sheduled to be finished by Sept. 30.

Dennis said business owners along Selkirk were polled several months ago and asked if they preferred the construction occur along the entire stretch while keeping one lane open for traffic or break it into shorter phases by closing both lanes in stages.

Either way, Dennis said construction will take its toll. He’s already laid off one staff member.

“Some days I eat steak, some days I eat macaroni and cheese,” he said. “The last two weeks have been mac and cheese.”

Just down the street, Amar Aziz, the owner of two pizza joints on Selkirk, said his business at one location (which also has a laundromat) has dropped 80 per cent.

“They’re killing us,” Aziz said. “No business. No parking. Nobody likes to walk around here, especially after dark.

“How are we going to pay the rent?”

Some retailers interviewed said the affects of the avenue closure haven’t appeared on their bottom line.

The owner of Sofa King, for example, said customers and delivery vans can load mattresses via the back lane. “The work has to be done,” said the owner, who only gave the name Kathy. “What can you do?”

Brothers Pharmacy at Selkirk and Andrews Street has also not seen a decline in revenue.

“This isn’t going to affect us much,” said owner Mike Watts. “A week into it and our numbers are exactly the same. If you have a prescription you’ll walk over a gravel pile to get it. We also have delivery.”

But at Avenue Meats, owner Mengesha Kidane isn’t so lucky.

“I don’t see any customers the whole day,” said. “We sit and do nothing. (But) There’s nothing you can do. You can’t complain.”

Eileen Stuckless, who runs the Windmill Restaurant with her husband, said business has been affected “big-time”, with revenue down from around $600 to $300 a day.

The restaurant has laid off one employee and reduced business hours.

But, she added, “What can we do about it? We’ve just got to grind our teeth and look at them (construction workers) and smile. We’re not going to get anything for it, so what the hell is the use of complaining about it?”

Meanwhile, at the Canadian Ukrainian Veterans Legion on Selkirk they were forced to close the washrooms earlier this month because water had been shut off. Two port-a-potties were put in the parking lot for members.

The water service has been restored, just in time for the legion’s 70th anniversary celebration on June 5.

“All those people were not going to get dressed up and then have to go out to the parking lot to go to the bathroom,” said manager Val Johnson. “I don’t think so.”

Still, Johnson said the construction could cut into bingo and Saturday night dance revenue. Although the legion has a parking lot, it’s being used by customers frequenting other nearby businesses.

“If the people can’t get in to play bingo we don’t get the money,” she said. “And if we don’t get the money we can’t stay open. But we’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.”

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @randyturner15