Black Friday should be a banner sales day for many retails stores.  But several stores along Rideau Street say it's been a bit of bust, blaming construction along a two-block strip.

A two-block portion of Rideau Street will be closed for three years to cars between Mackenzie Avenue and Dalhousie Street for construction of the Light Rail Transit.  Short term pain for long term gain.  That is the point behind the construction on Rideau for the LRT.  But some businesses say that ‘short term pain’ will push them out of business. 

At Vertigo Records on Rideau, the Supremes are belting out a love song but there is certainly no love lost for city hall in this record shop.

‘If it continues the way it is, there's no way I’m going to be able to stay in business,’ says Darin Tomlin, the owner of Vertigo Records.

The ‘it’ Tomlin is referring to is the LRT construction, a $2-billion dollar investment that will see light rain brought to the downtown core by way of the Confederation Line.  Rideau Street has been shut to cars and most buses since August and will be for the next three years. 

Tomlin says business has dropped 30% since then.  He says stores were given little warning about it.

‘I'm all for LRT,’ he says, ‘I knew there would be disruption. I knew business would be down while they were constructing it. But closing off a major artery for three years without letting businesses know?’

‘If it continues,’ Tomlin tweeted, ‘we will be out of biz next year.  Thank @jimwatsonottawa and @mathieufleury for one week notice of a 3 year street closure.’

It is the same story at the Top of the World skateboard shop a few doors down, where foot traffic has dropped between 30 and 50 percent.

Corey Hackett is the co-owner of the store, ‘We are an independent business,’ he says, ‘we’ve been here for 23 years.  We support the local community, we donate to local charities.  This is the kind of business that makes Ottawa special.’

The retail shops say they need help getting the message out that the area is still open for business and accessible.  The councillor for the area says he recognizes the challenges and says a strategy will be announced in the coming days.  But he adds that he is hearing different stories from other retailers about the impact on sales.

‘When I speak to businesses in the Byard Market or the Rideau Centre,’ says Mathieu Fleury, ‘they say their sales levels are stable compared to previous years. I know some businesses have seen a reduction but that's not reflective of all the businesses along the corridor.’

As Darin Tomlin puts on another record, he says after 12 years in business, he can only hope this isn't his swan song.

Fleury says he and the mayor did meet with about one hundred businesses this morning to update them on the LRT and construction. 

Corey Hackett points out, though the breakfast meeting happened to be scheduled on Black Friday, the second busiest retail day of the year for them.