UR Grocery has been hard hit by the Antelope Valley Project construction. In the past three months, it has seen business slump by as much as 50 percent.
Photo: Matt Buxton, NewsNetNebraska
While the Antelope Valley Project promises to bring renovations to the downtown area of Lincoln, a few businesses in the path of development have struggled to stay afloat.
Expansive road construction, widening and watershed construction have disrupted business for many stores as parking has become scarce and construction has blocked off roads.
Although some businesses have closed their doors, UR Grocery, at the corner of 18th and P streets, one of many Middle Eastern grocery stores in Lincoln, plans to not only carry on through the construction, but intends to expand, despite seeing a sharp decline in business during the last three months.
In the two years that UR Grocery has been in business, the owners have carved out a unique customer base with the diverse Middle Eastern community in Lincoln. Adnan Aljabiry, the store manager, explained that among Iraqi immigrants, for example, there are multiple different cultures and religions, and his business caters to them all. But construction has driven many away.
Adnan Aljabiry looks at a shelf of goods after reorganizing some clothing. He explains that UR Grocery carries a lot of goods for the diverse Middle Eastern community.
Photo: Matt Buxton, NewsNetNebraska
The construction, which is part of a community revitalization and flood control project, has been ongoing for years, but UR Grocery has been most affected in the last three months as a three-week road construction project to connect P Street to Vine Street stretched past its completion date.
"I called them twice and they said, 'Oh sorry, we're still working,'" Ajabiry said. "They say the weather is not good."
Kris Humphrey, the Antelope Valley Project manager, said heavy rains during the start of October stalled construction for weeks, but she expects the project to be substantially completed by the end of November.
Aljabiry said his business has been whittled down to half of what it had been before construction began, and he blames parking issues as the main reason for the slump.
It wasn't until the end of October that UR Grocery was able to reopen its parking lot. When it was closed, patrons had to hunt for parking spots in the already-crowded streets near the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. A few customers had their cars towed or ticketed while trying to park on P Street.
"They never came back," Aljabiry said.
It's been the same story with many customers, who, after nearly three months of being inconvenienced by construction, have stopped coming to UR Grocery and switched to one of Lincoln's other Middle Eastern stores without parking problems.
Ferial Hasan, a 12-year-old customer of UR Grocery, said that during the heavy construction, her family shopped at other stores, but once the parking lot opened, they came back.
"You can't find Middle Eastern food anywhere else," she said. The baked breads at UR Grocery are her favorite, she said.
"You can't get it at Walmart."
The small grocery store took a particularly hard hit during the holiday of Ramadan, a month-long fasting period which started in the end of August. While business typically doubles as customers stock up on food and treats, UR Grocery was blocked off completely as P Street was temporarily closed down and sales were well below expectation.
Now UR Grocery is cramped by the surplus of goods that Aljabiry can't sell such as sweets, rice and dozens of tins of Saudi Arabian dates, which are typically very popular.
"At least these don't expire for a while," he said, holding up a dusty tin with an expiration date of May 2011.
Nearly a dozen boxes filled with tins of dates sit unsold at UR Grocery after Ramadan. Store manager Adnan Aljabiry ordered a big supply directly from Saudi Arabia for a rush of sales that never came.
Photo: Matt Buxton, NewsNetNebraska
When asked if he thinks the business will make it through the construction, Aljabiry said he had no doubt it would survive. The key to survival is in diversifying the business, he said, repeatedly referring to his ability to offer unique products - something that will help his business compete with the handful of other Middle Eastern grocery stores in Lincoln.
UR Grocery plans to expand by providing more in-store baked goods - something patrons said was already one of their favorites - and creating a small, fast-food-like restaurant, he said.
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