The owner of the Party Warehouse is working to keep his flagship store open on Fuller Road in Albany

Posted at: 11/10/2012 11:30 PM | Updated at: 11/10/2012 11:35 PM
By: Dan Bazile

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ALBANY - It’s been the destination of party planners for the past 25 years. And the owner of the party warehouse says he hopes to keep it going for years to come.

Jerry Sykes tells Newschannel 13, “We're open and we're staying open at the present time for as long as we can. And we're sure we can stay open in the future.”

But Sykes says it's been a rough couple of years. He’s already closed stores in Clifton Park and Springfield, Massachusetts. The main location on fuller road is up in the air.

“We may do a sale in the next couple of weeks to try and increase our business volume and that's where we are.”

Sykes says business took a hit on several factors that include the soft economy and a snowstorm last year during their busiest season; Halloween.

Sykes recalls, “So we lost two days of the busiest season then. But the road work was an ongoing thing. It was the most painful.”

Construction work on Fuller Road started two years ago. It’s mostly finished now. Sykes says there's no question it was necessary. However the gridlock it created might have done irreversible damage to his business. He says customers have been avoiding the area because of the mess.

“My guess is over the two year period it costs us somewhere between twenty and thirty percent,” says Sykes.

He’s now working to make sure the store remains open. Sykes say he has employees who've worked at the store for more than twenty years and they're like family -- hoping to get through this rough time together.

“You go through many different emotions. Our emotion is let's get through. Let’s go on until tomorrow and see where we go.”

 

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