It’s business as usual at the Sawridge Plaza, at least for now.
Just prior to the groundbreaking ceremony of the new town government centre and library, The Leader visited with business owners at the Sawridge Plaza as they ramp up for a major overhaul.
Despite darkened corridors and plastic sheeting covering empty storefronts, the building appears about as busy as it did prior to construction beginning.
The Leader spoke with businessman Andy Assaf, owner of Head to Toe Fashion.
“It can be a little noisy, sometimes disturbing,” said Assaf, referring to the construction going on both inside and outside his shop.
There’s a lift carrying construction workers up to the hanging ceiling not 10 feet from his cash register. Men are removing track lighting and hanging plastic sheeting, while shoppers pick through racks of clothing below.
If a good attitude makes a successful business, Assaf has it in spades.
Looking forward to nearly two years of construction, Assaf seems undaunted.
“They say the build should take 77 weeks,” he says. “So, by the time we all get moved around, and all they government stuff gets put in, it might be more like two years.”
“We aren’t sure where we will be relocated, but it will be on the other side of the mall,” he says.
The store has been in operation at Sawridge Plaza location for three years, roughly the same time the big chains opened up at Cornerstone in the south of town. That didn’t phase Assaf either. “We carry a different product, a high quality product,” said Assaf, who has plans to stick it out at the mall no matter what.
“Make sure to tell the people, we are open for business!”he says.
On the other side of the construction dividing wall, business’ seem equally unphased.
Pennington’s clothing store has no plans to move, even after the renovation, and it seems like everyone is biding their time, knowing that the payoff will be worth the wait.
It may be too early to tell just how much impact the work will have, but it seems as if everyone is willing to wait out the piledrivers and electric saws in the hopes of something better down the line.

Copyright © 2000 The Lakeside Leader. All Rights Reserved.
No part may be reproduced without written permission.

View our Privacy Statement.
Send website suggestions to the Webmaster