It has been said that there are two seasons in Michigan: winter and road construction. The summer of 2007 didn’t prove that bromide false as Downtown Lansing became a veritable wonderland of orange cones, massive machines and hard-hatted workers toiling in the sun. For customers, the challenge was finding a way through the complex maze of detours, closed-off streets and construction equipment. For retailers, restaurants and other downtown entities, the challenge was making sure both regular and new customers made that sometimes daunting effort.

Some of this summer’s major projects include sewer separation construction on Kalamazoo Street from the Washington Avenue intersection west to Capitol Avenue; installation of a sanitary sewer and new water main on Kalamazoo Street between the Grand River Bridge and Grand Avenue; The Lansing Board of Water and Light’s steam duct replacement including the demolition of the old steam utility vault in the Grand Avenue/Kalamazoo Street intersection and removal of some of the old steam duct lines in Kalamazoo Street; work on Seymour Street; rain garden construction on East Michigan Avenue; brickwork in front of Oldsmobile Park; construction work at the Cedar Street/Michigan Avenue ramp; sanitary sewer work on Michigan between Washington and Capitol; bridge work at Museum Drive to correct a water inflow issue adjoining the Lansing Center; streetscape and sewer construction in the same area; repaving of Pennsylvania Avenue between Michigan and Eureka Street; construction on Hill Street, Hosmer Street and Eighth Street to replace antiquated sanitary sewers and work on water mains; road repairs throughout the downtown; and storm and sanitary sewer work on Porter Street and Case Street. No wonder it’s hard to navigate downtown!

Tori Wade, owner and operator of Studio 109, recently moved from her original space on Kalamazoo Street near the library to a site on Washington Avenue. Wade’s beauty salon was originally started by Roger Rochowiak, who was in business in Lansing for over 40 years and in the Kalamazoo Street location for 18 years. When he decided to retire three years ago, Rochowiak, a family friend of Wade’s, offered the business name and its clientele to Wade. Studio 109 offers a full range of services including not only haircuts and styling but also manicures and pedicures, tanning and massage therapy. The salon employs three full-time stylists, and business, according to Wade is “great!”

As Wade explained, “Many of our clients work downtown and walk to the salon, so all the construction hasn’t been a problem. And the visibility we gain by being centrally located more than offsets the inconvenience of all those orange barrels. There’s an energy to downtown that we like, and all of us who work here are committed to being in this location.

“Our building is owned by Scott Gillespie, and he’s been wonderful to work with. Our salon has all the character of a historic building—wood floors, tin ceilings—plus all the amenities you would expect in a new building. That’s what’s great about downtown: that mix of old and new. All the construction is worth the hassle just to be in this location.”

Mike Bruce, co-owner with his wife, Annette, of Insty-Prints, has been at his Washington Square location since 1984 and has seen any number of construction projects over the years. He knows that, as he said, “It has to be done, and it will be better for all of us in the long run.”

Bruce’s company employs seven and offers printing and copying services, specialty papers and laminating. “Our business is unique because our customers don’t actually have to come into the store,” he said. They can e-mail or fax files to us, we will take care of the work that needs to be done, and we offer free delivery within a three-mile radius.”

During the construction process, Bruce has remained positive. “We have done some special promotions and what we call construction sales to make our services even more attractive to our customers. We’ve also worked with channels 10 and 47 to do some on-air marketing; and, while our walk-in business is down a little, we’ve remained competitive, and our business is doing well.”

Marshall Kirk and Al Maywood own the Downtown Smoking Club and have been at the Washington Square location for seven years. For the first five years, hand-rolled cigars were made locally for sale in the store, but the manufacturing operation has relocated to the Dominican Republic. Those cigars are sold at the Downtown Smoking Club along with pipes, pipe tobacco and smoking accessories. The business features a large room for private parties as well as a card room and a patio. They also participate in events like golf outings, festivals and wedding-related parties.

Kirk said of recent projects, “Construction? It has to be done, and we just have to do our best to live with it. Business is down a bit, but that is as much related to the economy as the construction. We are a destination store, so the fact that we’re a little more difficult to get to this summer doesn’t affect us that much. Small business always has to be proactive in order to succeed, and the current situation doesn’t change that. We’re invested in downtown; this is where we want to be and where we intend to stay.”

For Fred and Mike Perelli, co-owners of Perelli’s Barber Shop, this is nothing new. After 50 years in the same location, periodic construction is a part of doing business. Originally from Italy, the brothers settled first in Canada before coming to Lansing. According to Fred Perelli, “It’s a little harder for our customers to get here, but it’s business as usual for us. Most of our clients have been coming to Perelli’s for so many years that they’re willing to make that extra effort.  We haven’t really seen a drop in business.”

Igor Jurkovic opened his Restaurant Mediterranean two years ago.  He and his parents, Mirko and Ljubica Jurkovic, co-owners of this new business, came to the United States from Croatia seven years ago. The restaurant specializes in European food, specifically Italian, Eastern European and German. Since it opened, business has been good and Jurkovic has seen little effect from the current construction projects.

He noted, “The only difference this summer is that we can’t use our outside patio. Our lunch service attracts mostly downtown workers, and they walk to the restaurant, and, for dinner, our customers are willing to make that extra effort to get to us. We really haven’t seen a decrease in business over last summer.  Downtown is busier all the time, and we benefit from that.  We’ll be glad when it’s over, but, in the meantime, we’re doing great!”

For these and other downtown businesses, all the construction is simply one more challenge. And meeting challenges is what it’s all about for entrepreneurs.