Morganton outdoor business owners see sales decline during parks and greenway closures

June should be the busy season for Michael Lowther, owner of Overmountain Cycles. With wheels turning and the shop humming, he reflects on what this time of year usually brings for his business. But this year, it’s quiet.

His business has been down for almost nine months, and he’s expecting sales to be 30%-40% lower this year after Hurricane Helene left parts of Morganton underwater, some of those parts he directly depends on for business: Catawba Meadows and the Greenway. Having recently celebrated his eighth year of business in Morganton — servicing bikes of any make and model, offering new and used bikes, parts, and accessories — Lowther said he has had worries about getting through the year.

“Usually this time of year, I’m not stressed about bills, you know, I’m not stressed about overhead and things. Our business is usually just humming,” Lowther said, noting that this time around, the warm months feel like a drawn-out winter season.

Although he said that he can’t attribute his business being down solely due to the closures (he acknowledged the bike industry is changing nationwide with the supply being greater than demand after the COVID-19 pandemic), he said he has seen fewer familiar faces.

“Personally, I attribute a lot of that to just the park not being open,” Lowther said, noting that about 90% of his customers are locals, but he does have tourists, too.

Lowther said the shop is usually booked a couple of weeks out for service, as people are out riding the greenway or hitting mountain bike trails. He has many older customers who feel the greenway is the only safe space for them to ride.

“We have customers that (used to) ride it daily that I haven’t seen since the hurricane,” Lowther said.

He’s not the only business owner feeling the pinch.

Nikki Malatin, one of the owners of Foothills Gears Garage, said that not having the greenway as a resource has affected their business as well, which also sells bikes, as well as apparel, kayaks, footwear, and gear.

“It affects all the stuff we sell pretty much,” Malatin said, adding that it’s not only her bikes that she is worried about selling. She worries that kayaks and related outdoor water equipment sales will be down with less accessibility from the greenway to the Catawba River. Currently, Greenlee Ford is the only access available with River Village and Catawba Meadows accesses closed.

“It’s bad for business, it’s bad for our town, it’s bad for attracting businesses,” Malatin said.

For Bryan Searcy, owner of CBS Sports, 40% of his business is walking gear. His footwear sales have been down, but he said that the park and greenway being closed haven’t affected his business as much because people are learning to adapt and find other places to go walking.

Those who normally walked the greenway have shifted mainly to Freedom Park, he said.

Lowther said his busy season typically starts in March or April and runs through Thanksgiving. He added there’s still time for business to pick up this year.

MORE AMENITIES TO SOON OPEN

Good news about the parks was announced at Monday’s Morganton City Council meeting.

Bryan Fish, director of parks and recreation, said more park and greenway openings are planned for mid-July, most significantly the section of the greenway from River Village to the Exploring Joara Foundation village at Catawba Meadows. Currently, the only open section of the greenway starts at Freedom Park basketball courts, to the Freedom Pedestrian Bridge over the Catawba River. The trail can continue to the Greenlee Ford access. The Silver Creek pedestrian bridge remains closed.

For those in the bike community, there’s even more good news. Foothills Conservancy, which constructed the mountain bike trails in Catawba Meadows, has been working to host community clean-up days and working on signage for the trails. They will also reopen and be accessible from the greenway behind the softball fields and open the Rocky Ford access parking lot so bikers can access the advanced section of the trails. The greenway section, however, will remain barricaded as it’s the most dangerous section of the greenway.

“I recommend any of you that ride bikes, come on out to the advanced section and take a ride,” Fish said.

“The public will be extremely grateful for more greenway opening and appreciative of the city’s hard work,” Lowther said, noting that the bike trail project has been about five years in the making and that it will be great to finally have them open to the public. The trails were completed right before Helene swept through and haven’t been able to be open to the public.

Morganton has bike lanes, but they are located on the busiest streets of town and there’s not much connectivity. “Basically, the greenway is where people feel safe to go ride. Around town, they freak out about cars, respectively so,” Lowther said.

When school’s out around this time of year, he said people flock to the greenway all the time. “We have customers where that’s the only thing they do, that’s their exercise. That’s how they get out. I mean, that’s how they de-stress from work.”

NEED FOR MORE COMMUNICATION

Lowther and Malatin both said that they wish the city would communicate more with business owners during the process of getting the parks and greenway back open. Lowther noted that he has contacted city staff for more information but has been met with dry responses. However, City Manager Sally Sandy said it’s up to people to look for the latest updates on the city’s website or attend and watch city council meetings.

City of Morganton Public Information Officer Jonelle Sigmon and Concession Coordinator Jolene Hollowell launched a new video series on June 6, called “Roots of Recovery,” which will give people a look at park and greenway areas affected by Hurricane Helene. The first video featured the Rocky Ford access of the greenway, which has a dangerous drop-off due to hurricane damage.

Sandy said that while the process may seem drawn out to some, there’s a process that has to be followed to receive FEMA grant funding and grant funding from the state. Those processes take time. The total parks and recreation damage from Hurricane Helene was around $40 million.

Lowther is still hosting free group rides on the Fonta Flora Trail and Wilson Creek to keep the bike community in Morganton engaged. Until the greenway and bike trails are open, Lowther said people can also drive to Valdese Lakeside Park for a flat trail or Oak Hill Community Park for easy mountain trails and hiking.

Overmountain Cycles will also host its annual bike parade on July 3. Those who want to participate should meet at Food Matters on Avery Avenue at 5:30 p.m. The parade will start at 6 p.m. and finish up at Sidetracked Brewery on South Sterling Street.