GREELEY, Colo. — Step into Pinocchio's Incredible Italian in downtown Greeley, where owner Cecil Velazquez prides himself on serving incredible food and incredible times.
“It’s a place we call home for Greeley,” said Velazquez. “We have a lot of families that come in three, four times a week.”
But that familiar feel has taken a turn as construction continues on the 16th Street Enhancement Project.
The improvements, which cover the section of 16th Street between 7th and 11th Avenues, will improve pedestrian and traffic safety while modernizing underground utilities and infrastructure.
After a year of construction, however, business owners like Velazquez are feeling the effects.
“A lot of our regulars told us, ‘Hey, we love you, we want to support you — it’s tough to come in,” he said.
Velazquez said many of his regulars have mobility issues, making it difficult for them to navigate the torn-up sidewalks and construction cones.
As a result, his bottom line dropped 50%.
“As it continued to get worse and worse, we saw a bigger downfall than that,” he said.
Business was so slow over the summer, he shut down Pinocchios Incredible Italian for the season — consolidating operations at the Pinocchios Prime location on 8th Street in the meantime.
While Pinocchios reopened for business earlier this fall, neighboring businesses haven’t fared as well.
La Petite French Bakery quietly closed its doors for good earlier this week. A sign on the business’s front door blames the project for the closure.
“[It’s] very shocking. I know that he was a staple, he was here for years,” said Velazquez. “It just didn’t seem conceivable for him to have lost his business because of construction.”
Denver7 took those concerns to the Greeley Downtown Development Authority (DDA).
Executive Director Bianca Fisher told us the DDA implemented a multi-pronged approach when the project broke ground, ensuring that they could offer ample support to businesses.
“La Petite was an absolute gem and landmark in downtown Greeley. But I think we can honestly reflect and look ourselves in the mirror to say we went above and beyond,” said executive director Bianca Fisher.
This includes a series of $3,000 grants for business owners to offset losses, ramping up marketing efforts, spotlighting local businesses on social media, and increasing signage to encourage more foot traffic on 16th Street.
“I wish I could say we had zero losses. Of course that’s going to be the goal, and we’re always going to strive for that, and certainly want to explore ways if there was opportunities to do something better, or more,” said Fisher.
Greeley isn’t the only city in Northern Colorado dealing with construction woes — in September, Denver7 told you about similar concerns in downtown Loveland.
“Our hope is that really, this outcome, this end goal, is going to be sustaining for decades to come. And that’s the hard part, right, for the work that we do, is balancing that short-term with a long-term perspective,” added Fisher.
With construction poised to wrap up in the spring, Velazquez is already dreaming of sunnier days.
“The amount of hugs, the handshakes, the ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so full!’ We just want to get back to that,” he said.
