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Business suffers as bridge fire cuts it off from customers

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Business suffers as bridge fire cuts it off from customers

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This is supposed to be the time of year that retail sales begin ramping up, but an employee-owned business in Northern Kentucky is struggling after a fire closed the Daniel Beard Bridge.

The big, yellow arches of the “Big Mac” Bridge used to bring customers straight to the doors of The Party Source for wine, liquor and spirits in Bellevue. The business sits right next to Interstate 471, which was also completely closed for several days in the wake of the fire. Assistant General Manager Kevin Schmits says the bridge closure has been challenging.

“The last couple months of the year are the most important sales wise,” Schmits said. “The sooner the bridge gets fixed the better for us.”

More: Traffic, detours and a ‘robodog’: Here’s the latest on the Big Mac bridge fire

Schmits has been working at The Party Source for 25 years, and for the past decade or so, the business has employee-owned.

He said about 100 people work at The Party Source. Two additional businesses call it their home: the Merchant’s Club Bar and Mama Pompilio’s Kitchen. The bar is also part of The Party Source business.

“Our employees are the ones directly being impacted,” he said. “They care a lot more and they want to know what they can do to help.”

They’ve been spreading the word about alternative routes to the store, and Schmits said it’s helping. They aren’t matching their sales numbers from last year, but they are closing the gap, he said.

The bridge was closed early Nov. 1 after a fire broke out at the Sawyer Point 1000 Hands Playground directly beneath the Ohio approach to the bridge. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The northbound lanes of the bridge have reopened, but the southbound side is still closed. Officials are still assessing the damage, and there has been no estimate on how long it will take to fix. The Ohio Department of Transportation says it will be a “long-term” closure.

Meanwhile, traffic has been gridlocked at rush hour in Cincinnati, which is likely further deterring side trips to places like The Party Source.

People’s rage is spilling on to social media. One poster on Reddit said their commute, which does not include I-471, has doubled in time.

“I hope whoever set the fire under 471 finds a hair in every meal they eat for the rest of their lives,” the poster said.

The city is working to ease the backups, according to Melissa McVay, a supervising management analyst with Cincinnati’s Department of Transportation and Engineering.

“We understand drivers are frustrated with slower traffic during rush hours,” McVay said. “We’ve adjusted signal timing to improve traffic flow and are evaluating further changes.”

Schmits said he hopes things get better as people figure out new routes to get where they want to go, and joked that maybe they’ll start kayaking across the Ohio River to get to his store.

In the meantime, The Party Source can be accessed via Taylor Southgate Bridge from Ohio. Once across the river, take the third exit on the roundabout to 3rd Street, hang a left on Washington Avenue and a right on Dave Cowens Drive.

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