Some Stoneham businesses are running on as little as a third of their usual customer traffic as a sweeping downtown construction project tears up sidewalks, streets and parking spots across the town center. Owners describe empty storefronts, canceled shifts and anxious nights as they wait to see whether the town will offer any financial help.
The disruption is tied to the Stoneham Square Improvement Project, a $4.7 million effort funded largely through a $4 million MassWorks Infrastructure Grant, according to the Stoneham MA Chamber of Commerce. Construction began in early July and is being completed in phases, with crews installing new sidewalks, crosswalks, curb ramps and ADA accessibility upgrades alongside streetscape improvements like landscaping, lighting and benches, the chamber says. As CBS News reports, some establishments now see up to two-thirds of their usual business wiped out, and the project is expected to continue through June, according to the town.
Anthony's Italian Specialties has had its business cut in half on some days, per the outlet's reporting. At McDonough's Liquors, employees said the store had only a third of its usual business and had made just $200 by 1:30 p.m. on the day the station visited — a sharp drop that Christine Carpentieri, who owns Christine's Sweet Shoppe nearby, described as a significant decline in customers.
A Candy Shop Owner's Sleepless Nights
Carpentieri has had to close her shop between eight and nine days because of the construction, and on some days she doesn't open until as late as 5 p.m. to avoid the worst of the disruption. She said financial survival is what keeps her awake at night, even as she insisted she still supports the town and the construction project itself.
Parking has become one of the biggest flashpoints downtown. Customers face real difficulty finding spaces near businesses, and the project removed some parking spots as part of its design, while a nearby public lot has been filled with construction vehicles instead of customer cars. Carpentieri said she now parks at town hall and walks to her shop so that available spaces stay open for shoppers, and she said another store owner has started commuting by train for the same reason.
Businesses Try to Fill the Gap Themselves
With foot traffic down, some merchants have turned to their own grassroots incentives to pull people back downtown. Carpentieri said Pizza Mia gave away gift cards over a weekend to visitors of her shop, and a local real estate agent handed out $5 to each of the first 50 customers on a weekend day. She said customers, the town and surrounding businesses all want to see local establishments succeed.
Some businesses have asked the town for a financial reprieve, but Carpentieri said they had received no response so far. The town has said it is working with construction crews to limit the impact on businesses where possible, and that work will scale back during the winter months.
How Other Downtowns Have Weathered Similar Work
Stoneham's predicament echoes what's played out in other New England downtowns mid-overhaul. In Springfield, construction projects and street closures have also squeezed parking and business for local establishments, and one restaurant owner there told WWLP that revenue had dropped by about 20 to 30 percent because of the work.
Across the border in Keene, New Hampshire, the Keene Downtown Group took a more organized approach, designing a three-year plan called Dig into Keene to support merchants through a projected three-year construction timeline, according to the Keene Sentinel. That plan calls for 18 festivals over three years, six annually, paired with targeted shopping incentives, and organizers researched how other communities, including Concord and Burlington, Vermont, handled comparable downtown projects before building their own response.
Stoneham has been building toward this moment for years. Officials began crafting their vision for the downtown redesign back in 2021, and during a June 2022 public forum, project consultant Jason Schreiber of Stantec argued that the town's traffic and pedestrian problems stemmed largely from excess roadway pavement, according to Homenewshere.com. The chamber has also noted that Stoneham sits at the center of several large-scale regional utility projects crisscrossing the town at roughly the same time, compounding the congestion downtown merchants are now navigating.
