PENSACOLA, Fla. — This week, local businesses and artists on West Garden Street are joining efforts to power through a $22 million state road project.
The Florida Department of Transportation started “Garden Street construction” in April of last year and is expected to go through mid-2027.
That’s impacted sales for several businesses along the U.S. 98 corridor.
One local business owner has taken it upon herself to rally the efforts of her business neighbors to attract more customers.
The Florida Department of Transportation has been working on Garden Street, from Pace Boulevard to the Interstate-110 ramp, for almost a year.
Orange traffic cones first went up in front of businesses along West Garden Street in April of last year.
Angie Carter-Rosier, the owner of the unique boutique, said those cones continue to drive away customers.
“They’ve just moved them, but it still hinders a lot of the traffic because the pattern has them going around as an alternative route up to Cervantes,” Carter-Rosier said. “It directs traffic away from the store. It definitely still affects us.”
She’s tried out several new business models, added more signage, and advertised on social media, trying to attract customers.
About a month ago, she started hosting the ‘West Garden District Artisan Market’ to highlight more artists than are represented in her store.
“We need more people to be aware of the West Garden District and come support the businesses,” Sassy Crafty Designs owner Samantha said. “The construction here is also difficult, just like it is on Palafox, and we would like everyone to come support the West Garden District.”
Saturday was the first day Carter-Rosier scheduled a food truck to come out with the goal to make it an all-inclusive experience for customers.
“We’ve just recently added food trucks, and we’re just trying to offer this part of town something new and fun and exciting, and we believe this is the next place that Pensacola is going to grow,” Carter-Rosier said.
‘Gong Show Kitchen’ says this was one of their first markets to attend, so it also helped them get their brand out.
“It’s very mutually beneficial,” Gong Show Kitchen owner Mike Tilton said. “Small businesses are out here for the same thing. We’re out here to support the community, support local, and just be out, be present, and help each other out.”
The event brought several first-time customers.
“It has nice new local art jewelry, a bunch of handmade things, lots of antique things, and vintage,” customer Linda said. “I like the vintage stuff.”
Many report that despite the cones in the road — the West Garden is still easy to navigate.
“It wasn’t hard at all. Just GPS it, and you can locate it really easily,” Linda said.
Carter-Rosier is also in the last steps of creating a West Garden District business association for folks that want to collaborate and share resources.
She says it should be official by the end of this summer.
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