I pulled into the Instant Oil Change store on E. Kalamazoo Street recently, and I thought the guys there were going to kiss me. Road construction made getting into the place a daunting prospect.
A franchise like that will be able to survive a temporary lack of customers, but for businesses lacking deep pockets, the prospects are more precarious.
For example, Mark Bailen wrote:
“I am a partner at Dolly’s Pizza in the Brookfield Plaza, by Outback Steak House. Before the (Saginaw Highway) construction, we were getting 10-15 walk-in orders a day. Once construction started our walk in orders dropped to 2-3 per day.
“As you know, the restaurant business is very competitive with very thin margins and the pizza business is a volume business. We just could not make it and closed the store in early June, with no hope of bringing it back and have been dismantling the store and selling the equipment.”
Bailen wondered if the restaurant owners were entitled to any compensation.
Not that I’m aware of. How about you? Do you think there should be?
