Some of the local businesses situated closest to the ongoing
construction for the U.S. Route 219 Bradford Bypass project have
taken a hit in sales this summer.

Tom Pfeil, store manager at Arby’s near the Forman Street on/off
ramps, said Friday business has been down this summer, but could
not provide exact figures.

Pfeil said he has noticed that the fast food restaurant hasn’t
been experiencing the same growth rate in recent months that it has
over the past few years.

To make up for the shortcoming in some part, Pfeil said the
store has been running daily specials – both those handed down from
corporate headquarters and sales independent to just the Bradford
location.

The company started running daily incentives in May, he said, to
“try to stimulate business.”

While reluctant to blame the ongoing construction for the lull
in sales, Pfeil did say that the trend seems to be the same for his
neighbors.

Gary Akers, head manager at Buck’s Pizza, located in the same
shopping plaza with Arby’s near the Forman Street on/off ramps,
said Friday that construction on Route 219 has “obviously impacted”
his business.

“With traffic only going one way,” Akers said, his sales from
out of state customers or those “north of us” have been down.

He went on to say that as part of the Bradford Area Small
Business Association, he knows requests have been made months ago
to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation or those
responsible for the project requesting signage that would direct
motorists to downtown Bradford.

As far as he knows, Akers said, no such signs have been
erected.

“People just don’t know how to get here,” he said, adding he has
had to keep a more watchful eye on revenues and expenses with
business being so tight.

The construction has also made deliveries difficult, he
added.

Michelle Chapman, manager of the Sports Caf_, located across
Forman Street in Union Square, said owners/managers at her
restaurant noticed the lag in sales at the start of the summer this
year.

There was a serious decline in customers from East Bradford,
Chapman said, adding the management changed advertising to help the
restaurant’s cause.

“We noticed (the decline in sales) on lunch more than dinner,”
she said, “so we started some lunch specials.” The promotional
offers, which have since expired, Chapman said, included
specially-prepared lunches priced at $2.19.

While the first four or six weeks of summer were hard, she said,
sales are now pretty much back to normal, and the $2.19 lunches
were discontinued with the implementation of the establishment’s
fall menu.