Downtown Chicago Businesses Stay Boarded Up Until After Election
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The wait for results may be wrecking your nerves, but it's also cutting into the bottom line of area businesses.
Boarded up, waiting to see how the country reacts.
CBS 2's Marie Saavedra reports on why that plywood's not going anywhere.
Business owners said there's just still too much unknown. But many places have been boarded up since Monday and their sales numbers show.
On the corner of Wabash and Madison, things are slow enough that Kooroush Daneshgar has time to design.
"If you look at the area most of the jewelers, they covered up," said Daneshgar, who added that he hasn't seen out of the front windows of Wedding Bands and Co. since Election Day, and in turn, shoppers haven't come in.
"Our traffic dropped 90%, so we have two or three customers that come in," Daneshgar said.
That is the trade-off for shops on Jeweler's Row, State Street and the Magnificent Mile as they wait on the presidential election results. Board up and lose customers through the rest of the week? Or chance a break in? Video from Daneshgar's store in August showed what he hopes is the last time his store gets looted.
"We got hit twice so, it was hard. We can't handle it anymore," Daneshgar said.
"There is a sense of optimism."
Kimberly Bares with the Mag Mile Association said stores are grateful the week thus far has been peaceful. One business in the area was taking its boards down. But the majority seem to be waiting until after the race is called.
"Business thrives on certainty and so this uncertainty certainly has all of us a little on edge," Bares said.
The city of Chicago said there are no known threats of violence, nothing like what was seen twice already this year. But even so, Daneshgar will keep his up through the weekend.
"I'd like to keep them up for a while. To make sure everything is going to be smooth," Daneshgar said.
The Mag Mile Association said that it takes just as much time to put the boards up as it does to take them down. So they expect to see businesses looking more like themselves over the next few weeks.
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