GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — It's been a difficult two months for Ivette Reyes and her business M&M Bakery.
She's owned the store on Cesar E. Chavez Avenue for the past 35 years, and the road construction from Clyde Park to Hall Street has been difficult for businesses up and down the road.
"This is the first time ever in my whole years in business that I don't even open my cash register," said Reyes. "Construction here is very difficult."
Most of the businesses between the two intersections are Hispanic-owned businesses.
"People calling me, 'Ivette, where are we gonna park, Ivette, how are we gonna do this?' And we are very, you know, I'm nervous," said Reyes. "We are very nervous because we don't know what's going to happen with the business."
With the road torn up, and construction vehicles constantly moving up and down, parking and even walking has become more and more difficult for those walk-in customer types.
"Saturday, my line used to be up to the door back there," said Reyes, pointing to the front of her store. "Now it's time we bring the cake to the customer outside of the building, because there's no way to park."
We reached out to the City of Grand Rapids for a project update. An engineer on the project told 13 ON YOUR SIDE the construction is part of a $7.5 million project to put in a new watermain and other upgrades such as landscaping. However, Reyes said ever since this project started, she lost about 80% of her sales.
"My electricity bill is $3,000 a month," said Reyes. "My mortgage is $3,000 a month. My gas is almost $2,000 a month. You know, it's hard. It's hard. It's very hard."
The entire project is expected to wrap up in July. However, Reyes has heard it could take up until August.
"I don't know if we can hold on till August, you know, because I'll probably go to a bank and make a loan," she said.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Watch 13 ON YOUR SIDE for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV and on your phone.