Westhampton Beach Business Owners Are Coping With First Effects Of Main Street Construction

Westhampton Beach clothing store owner Elyse Richman was forced to relocate Shock, her 33-year-old Main Street shop, because the building she was renting a space in was about to be rebuilt.

She had planned to move into a building across the street to continue operations there in the meantime. But once the village’s Main Street reconstruction project began on September 16 — two weeks earlier than originally planned — she discarded that plan and decided instead to close her business until the building is rebuilt, firing her two employees. She knew she wouldn’t attract enough customers during the village project to offset the cost of rent and other expenses.

“Why would I? I would go, and, for what?” Ms. Richman said of relocating.

A chain link fence that lines the sidewalks separates businesses from an active construction site, with vehicles hauling away chunks of Main Street and heavy equipment drilling into the ground. This is the type of view that merchants will see out their storefront windows until mid-May, when the entire project is expected to be completed.

All year-round businesses will remain open throughout the construction and all sidewalks will be open until January 31 during the roadwork phase of the project. From February to May, sections of the sidewalk will be closed in order to be replaced.

The project was not a surprise, as plans had been discussed publicly by village officials for several years. But seeing the construction crews take over the street has left some Main Street merchants feeling distraught, partly because they believe that officials should be doing more to support the businesses.

“It’s very difficult,” said Ms. Richman, who also owns Baby Shock and Shock Ice Cream on Main Street, both of which remain open. “There’s no one on the street. There’s nobody here. I didn’t think it was going to be that extreme.”

Other merchants, while already seeing business losses, remain optimistic that the finished product will be worth the present disruption and are taking proactive steps to attract more customers.

Lynne Jones, who has been operating Lynne’s Cards & Gifts on Main Street for 30 years, is concerned that her business might not survive the duration of the project. She created a back entrance so that customers who park in the rear parking lot can easily access her store. Since construction began, she said there has been a “dramatic drop” in sales.

“We’re going to do the best we can. We have to grin and bear it, and we’re going to try to take it with grace,” Ms. Jones said with a laugh. “I’m looking at it from the long view. It’s going to be an improvement once we get through it. It’s just going to be hard to get through it. But we will.”

At Salt & Loft, the trendy luncheonette that recently opened at the intersection of Main Street and Library Avenue, owners Barry Bernstein and Karolina Nesko made a number of changes in an effort to keep their restaurant thriving. They are now offering a prix fixe menu and happy hour, and have installed three big screen televisions to show sports games.

Mr. Bernstein said they would also like to organize special programming events, like movie nights in the restaurant and yoga classes.

He acknowledged that Salt & Loft is in a particularly good spot because it has its own parking area and is located where cars and pedestrians can still cross through Main Street. The only other crossing is for pedestrians next to the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, so businesses located in between the two are not quite as accessible.

“I think that more has to be done in terms of the message through the media, through postings, through signs that we’re doing this construction, the businesses are open and we’re here, you should come here,” Mr. Bernstein said. “Change that feeling that Main Street is closed. It’s not closed.”

He made sure to preface that by saying he strongly supports the efforts of the Village Board.

“I’m behind them. I feel like they’ve put a tremendous effort into this and I support them wholeheartedly,” Mr. Bernstein said.

Ms. Jones shared a similar sentiment that village officials are doing what they can to identify where parking is available and informing drivers that Main Street businesses are still open.

“It’s a group effort. I think there’s a learning curve with this type of thing, and I don’t think if you’ve never done a project like this before, you don’t really know how to deal with all the possibilities,” she said. “And I think the village is doing a good job of trying to put up signage and get people here as best they can.”