Balloons wave in the breeze, some blazoned with one word 鈥� 鈥淪ALE鈥� 鈥� to beckon passersby out of the heat and to hopefully partake in discount deals from shoes to jewelry and everything in between at Alexandria鈥檚 annual Sidewalk Sale.
But how鈥檚 foot traffic to businesses since Metro鈥檚 ongoing Blue and Yellow line shutdown to stops south of Reagan National Airport?
It depends who you ask.
There didn鈥檛 seem to be a dearth of customers at Comfort One Shoes at the corner of King Street and North Lee Street. Their city manager Justin Titus said there has been less traffic, although he doesn鈥檛 pinpoint the shutdown as the sole reason. He said excessive heat and timing could be other factors.
鈥淐ould be just a Sunday thing. It could鈥檝e been that this day鈥檚 a little hotter than yesterday 鈥� that’s hurting us, too 鈥� so you have that in addition to the 90-something [temperatures] that it was in June,鈥� said Titus, who tells 海角社区app he has been with Comfort One for seven years.
鈥淲hen it gets anywhere above 85 鈥� we also usually have to shut the door at 90 because it鈥檚 too hot. That kills our business, too.鈥�
He said they still have steady traffic, though.
鈥淥verall [the shutdown] has hurt us as far as the amount of people that come through, but we are lucky in that we have quite a steady fan base, so people come in regularly. And we鈥檙e getting nicer and nicer shoes in, so that鈥檚 helped sort of combat that a little bit.鈥�
Wares for sale from shoes to jewelry and everything in between and Alexandria鈥檚 sidewalk sale. But how鈥檚 foot traffic since Metro鈥檚 ongoing shutdown of the Blue/Yellow lines south of Reagan National Airport?
鈥� Liz Anderson (@PlanetNoun)
Down King Street and around the corner of North Fairfax, Kristen Moore at Twist Boutique hasn鈥檛 noticed changes during her year and a half in business here.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 seen much impact because of where we鈥檙e located 鈥� across from City Hall and next to the Visitor Center. We have had plenty of traffic both local and out of town guests as well,” Moore said.
Metro Blue and Yellow line service south of Reagan Ana National is scheduled to resume on Sept. 9.
Kristin Moore at Twist Boutique hasn鈥檛 noticed changes.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 seen much impact because of where we鈥檙e located across from City Hall and next to the Visitor Center we have had plenty of traffic both local and out of town guests as well.鈥�鈥� Liz Anderson (@PlanetNoun)
