Posted on 03/31/2003 8:50:30 AM PST by JohnHuang2
Business suffers as war empties huge U.S. base
By Tim McGlone
NORFOLK, Va., March 31 (Reuters) - At Nick's On The Boulevard, the first tavern just past Gate 2 of Norfolk Naval Station, about 25 people, mostly sailors, linger around the bar or shoot pool in the back.
A sign out front states, "USA All The Way. Saddam Insane." On a typical night before the war with Iraq, the crowd would be much larger with two waitresses working the floor. One bartender and a cook can handle the crowd now.
"It's been kind of slow, especially at night," said Melva Lee, Nick's longtime cook. "I've seen it busier."
Opened in 1939, Nick's has been in business through one World War, three major conflicts and thousands of deployments.
Now the piers just up the street sit mostly empty. Nearly 30,000 military personnel assigned to the base and other installations around the Hampton Roads section of Virginia have been sent to the war.
Around 60 ships stationed in Norfolk, the biggest naval base on the east coast and the headquarters of the Atlantic Fleet, are in the Middle East.
While the region holds a population of around 1.5 million people, those missing 30,000 military personnel, the dollars they spend and even the relationships they have forged with their favorite shop workers are sorely missed, particularly among small businesses.
The commercial areas around the Hampton Roads bases have taken a direct hit as a result. Many reported losing 70 percent or more in sales during the past month.
The Chanello's Pizza shop just off Hampton Boulevard near Gate 2 has had to cut employees' hours.
Assistant Manager Val Welch said the store, part of a local chain, is trying to stave off layoffs.
"Business has dropped off 75 percent, but we're holding our own," said Welch during a quiet lunch hour on Saturday.
MILITARY PERSONNEL
Welch said many people did not realize that when 30,000 military personnel get deployed, many of their spouses and children move temporarily to family members' homes in other parts of the country.
Delivery calls from the apartment complexes near Chanello's have all but disappeared, she said.
But Welch said she can live through the loss of business. What is tougher is not knowing what is happening to her regular customers.
"We personally know these gentlemen," she said. "They're family to us."
When they return, "we sure will welcome them back. We'll be kissing the ground they walk on," said Welch.
About eight miles (13 km) away in downtown Norfolk, crowds along the Granby Street still pack the restaurants at night. Lines were forming outside the clubs as well.
MacArthur Center Mall a block over had plenty of traffic too, but the smaller business are feeling the pinch.
"It's like a graveyard," said Kim Strickland, a barber at Barbershop & Co. in the mall.
Her customers include many sailors who prefer a barbershop cut over the shearing they get at the base.
"I've got a lot of guys over there," she said.
The Hampton Roads area has generally done better than the national economy, with higher economic growth rates and lower unemployment thanks to big defense spending and local tourism.
Despite this optimistic economic news, retailers are still fretting.
Local banks are reporting a surge in store owners seeking lines of credit to get them through the next several months. Some local businesses are also holding off on expansion plans. Big-ticket retailers such as car dealers and appliance stores report seeing fewer customers in recent weeks.
Paul Wamsley, of Superior Pawn near the Navy base, where hot-ticket items include $1 posters of Saddam and Osama bin Laden, said he is hoping for a quick end to the war.
"We won't know the impact until it's over," he said.
Barbara Streisand. I got some crappy hair cuts occasionally at the exchange, but you don't get sheared unless you ask for it. The military haircut is short and not all that optional, regardless of where you get it done. The sailors may prefer 'her' cutting their hair for the soothing comfort of female hands. But don't we all, guys?
I wonder if Eats The Nest is still outside the main gate? That's were I got my introduction to Rolling Rock beer lo, these forty years ago.
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