Mmm Yummy opened on Painesville Square last July, and founder Belen Flores said that staff were looking forward to their first full summer in business this year.
But instead of increased foot traffic, she said the snack, sweet and meal shop at 76 S. Park Place has faced a decrease in sales since the start of construction in May on the city’s South Park Place streetscape improvement project.
“Before they started working we were doing very good,” she said. “We were very excited about this summer because it’s our first year here, so we were waiting on these months, but right now we are very, very slow.”
Flores estimates that the store lost 40 to 50 percent of its sales when the construction work began. She added that the decline in sales led the company to reduce its staffing from seven to four employees.
The store also opens later now, listing opening times of 1 p.m. on Mondays and noon on other days. Flores said that it previously opened at 10 a.m.
A few doors down, Branches of Wellness founder Erin Hill has operated her business at 70 S. Park Place since 2017. Her studio made it through the pandemic and was recovering from that and the inflation that followed, though she wondered earlier this summer if she would have to close because of the decline in the number of visitors after construction started.
“I basically came in on a Tuesday morning and I said to my class, ‘I don’t know if we’re going to be able to be here next week,’ ” Hill said. “By that point we were behind in paying staff, paying overhead payments here, rent, and there was no money coming in.”
She said that Branches of Wellness offers a variety of fitness and mindfulness programs, like yoga. It also offers what she described as “healing arts services,” and the business’ website lists massage, reiki, shamanism and tuning forks under that label.
“Our largest demographic of folks usually are people that are less mobile,” she said.
Other clients may include people who have medical conditions, have undergone replacement surgeries or are recovering from strokes, Hill added.
She said that while business typically slows down in the summer, the studio is supported by appointments for its independent healing arts contractors. The contractors have not been able to book as many appointments this year, the business has had to cancel programming and classes that previously may have had 10-12 participants now have around three.
Hill’s clients recommended that she create a GoFundMe campaign to sustain her business. She said that she surpassed her initial $5,000 goal in five days, and she later increased that goal to $10,000.
The campaign is still active and had raised more than $6,700 as of June 28.
While the streetscape and parking spots in front of these businesses are currently torn up, the city has provided parking spaces in a portion of the parking lot adjacent to 61 E. Washington St., next to a former bank drive-through. Residents can walk under the drive-through to get to the businesses.
The city said that additional parking is available in its South St. Clair Street and East Washington Street parking lots, while 10 spaces for Mmm Yummy and the neighboring Subway have been reserved on North Park Place.
Flores added that customers can also park in front of Lake Erie College’s Tower student housing on South Park Place, just past the intersection with Liberty Street.
Hill and Flores said that the construction and longer distance to the parking spots have been difficult for their visitors. Hill believes that the lack of close parking is hard for visitors with mobility issues.
She added that clients have not always been able to access their spaces, while other construction projects have also posed obstacles.
“It’s been a lot of frustration from our client community and from my staff,” Hill said.
City Manager Doug Lewis said that the city “is definitely concerned about the impact this project is having on our local businesses.”
Lewis, Hill and Flores all said that Painesville has worked to help affected businesses promote themselves, and Flores added that the city has been “very helpful.”
Lewis said that the city is letting businesses place signs on the square during the project.
He said that the contractors have helped patrons get to the businesses, and they and the city engineer’s office have worked to move the project along “in a timely manner.” The contractors also poured the sidewalk in front of a number of the businesses first, and that portion of the sidewalk is open to the public.
Lewis said that the city was planning for the project for two years.
“The city secured grant funding and is investing additional funds to repair and improve sidewalks that were uneven, patched, sloping and bordered by crumbling curbs with new, evenly-graded, landscaped concrete sidewalks that will include both a walking area and space for outdoor tables and seating,” he said.
Lewis added the city held a meeting for local businesses after awarding the contract to Perk Company.
Hill said she heard that there was a meeting between the city and local businesses three months ago, but her business was not aware of it at the time.
“I just wish the communication process would have been a little bit better,” she said.
“If I had known then we would have tried to at least given ourselves a financial cushion at that point, preparing for something like this,” Hill added.
Hill said that Branches of Wellness is currently focused on raising awareness for the square’s businesses and raising funds through GoFundMe. She also plans to promote the business during events on Painesville Square this summer.
“Main focus is just helping spread awareness that we’re here and we’re open, and all these small businesses are here and open that we want to also continue, like Mmm Yummy and Subway and the Fairport Dance Academy and there’s an insurance company there too,” she said.
Hill is trying to make it through the construction project’s expected completion date in mid-August.
“I can’t thank, again, the client community enough for the tremendous outpouring of support and just kind of cheering us on,” she said.
Flores also asked residents to visit Mmm Yummy, adding that the shop recently added hard ice cream.
“A lot of people don’t know that we are here, so we would like to invite them to see, to stop, to see what we have,” she said.
Lewis said that Painesville is also encouraging residents to visit the affected businesses.
“No one wants a business to fail,” he said.