Jewelers fear Wabash Avenue work will pinch sales

As retail nightmares go, road construction is a reliable bogeyman. Traffic snarls. Obstructed storefronts. Dust, noise and scaffolding keeping shoppers away.

But for some businesses on Chicago's historic Jewelers Row, Monday's closing of a stretch of Wabash Avenue for 18 months to construct a new "L" station may be more than a headache.

"I'm worried," said John Kurji, owner of Giovar Jewels, 21 N. Wabash Ave. "I'm considering just closing down."

Up and down the Wabash Avenue construction zone, jewelers and other businesses are bracing as work gets underway to replace two century-old stations with a modern "superstation" at Washington Street and Wabash Avenue a $75 million project many said will greatly benefit the area, provided they are around to enjoy it.

Some are optimistic that their reputations will keep customers coming. Others worry high-end customers accustomed to convenient valet service will avoid the drive downtown. And some smaller jewelers, such as Kurji, say this could be the final straw after what has already been a tough year.

Kurji, a third-generation jeweler who immigrated from Syria, started his business on a workbench crafting custom pieces and for the past seven years has been renting a prime booth space fronting the street in the Wabash Jewelers Mall. Business was good until recently.

Holiday sales at his shop were down 25 percent from the previous year, likely from competition from online jewelry retailers, he said. February, which typically gets a boost from Valentine's Day, was his worst ever, down 50 percent from a year earlier, which he blames in part on partial road closings on Wabash over the past month for electrical work.

"If that did this, what will happen when it's all shut down?" Kurji said.

The answer, of course, is no one knows.

Starting Monday, the block of Wabash between Madison and Washington streets closes to traffic for 18 months. Starting mid-April, the two blocks bracketing that stretch also will face strictures: Wabash will be reduced to one lane from Washington to Randolph and from Madison to Monroe streets.

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Jewelers fear Wabash Avenue work will pinch sales