Business owners say construction on 2nd Ave. is cutting into their bottom lines

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's part of a project to improve the area after the 2020 Christmas Day bombing.

The construction around Second Avenue downtown is hard to miss. But talk to businesses there, and they'll tell you they worry their shops are hard to spot.

"I can say that foot traffic now is completely different," said Morgan Bell, a manager at Nashville Souvenirs. "They see the barricades and fences and think it's closed."

But the area is not closed. In fact, the Nashville Downtown Partnership has tried hard to let people know the businesses are open with large banners, encouraging would-be customers to "turn the corner."

But businesses say they're still taking a big hit.

The dessert shop Mattheessen's says they're down about 40 percent in sales from this time last year, including after last weekend's big Morgan Wallen show.

"We were expecting a crazy weekend — everyone coming from Broadway was saying how crazy Broadway is overflowing," said Hunter Mattheessen. "But we really didn't see that big of an impact, and it was kind of your average Saturday on Second Avenue."

Even though the full project won't be done until early next year, businesses say they're looking forward to part of the road opening back up in September, as they do what they can through the busy summer tourist season.