KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – For weeks, Sutherland Avenue has been closed to traffic as Knoxville Board of Public Utilities contractors service a 17-foot-deep storm sewer main.
The stretch of road that is closed is from Liberty Street to Division Street and prevents all automobile and pedestrian traffic from easily accessing businesses along the stretch of road.
“Unfortunately, a lot of these other small businesses don’t get their normal amount of business through here,” said Jade Dembo, owner of Whimsy Emporium.
Dembo just purchased the property and is postponing opening day while construction continues.
“Honestly, it was discouraging at first,” Dembo said.
The day before Dembo planned to open, he told WVLT he received notice that the road in front of his business was about to close until mid-April.
“So it was a surprise,” Dembo said.
KUB officials told WVLT News in a statement that they began notifying business owners in late February and that the road needed to be closed for safety reasons.
Dembo’s frustration comes from his business and the other businesses along his block that will suffer due to the closure.
”A project of this scale would have been on the agenda for a long time. They would have known something like this was about to happen and the fact that they didn’t notify small businesses shows that we are not a priority and we really should be. “It’s the lifeblood of Knoxville,” Dembo said.
Dembo asked for better communication and to show that someone knows what the impact of this decision is on companies like his.
“I would like someone to be in charge, maybe that person has to be a small business owner who can understand the struggle of suddenly being cut off for almost six to eight weeks of income and being almost completely cut off is really detrimental to small businesses “Dembo said.
Meanwhile, Dembo has set an opening date of May 4, a critical point for his business and those who depend on it.
“Whimsy, I have 30 local artists in the store and they’re counting on me to open the space and that’s what’s been the hardest for me, I don’t want to let them down,” Dembo said.
TO fundraising and a Online store In the meantime, they support Whimsy Emporium and its owner, but said they will make it work because of the determination of the small businesses and community they have created.
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