Kalamazoo businesses ask city for financial help during construction

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Midtown Fresh and Park Street Market are two of the many businesses caught in some of the several road projects happening in Kalamazoo.

Paul Petros, the owner of Midtown Fresh Market, said his business is down 20% since construction closed the intersection of South Westnedge Avenue and Crosstown Parkway. He said he has had to lay off 10 people and he’s afraid he’ll have to lay off more.

Petros spoke to the City Commission Monday night, saying asking for financial help is the only thing he can do right.

“So I’m here. I’m asking for help — financial help. Not signage, I don’t want signage. I don’t want advertising. I’ve been doing business for almost 23 years. That’s not how it works. You need access to your stores. I’m here to ask for what we lost. We lost our customers. We lost our time. We lost our money. We’ve laid off about 10 people so far.  If it stays like this, it’s just going to keep going that way,” Petros said.

Several business addressed the City Commission Monday night about getting some kind of help with the construction. Ideas included better signage for detours and wayfinding signs to get to their businesses.

Later in the meeting, Mayor David Anderson said the city manager’s office is already working on solution. No action was taken Monday night.

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