As University Place Opens for Business U-Store Business Comes Back to Life

Matthew Hersh

For nearly half a year, University Place, a vital access road to Princeton University and downtown Princeton, was dammed – not cursed, but dammed. Dammed with jackhammers, paving finishers, and concrete mixers. So much so, that the bottleneck created in the morning rush on Alexander Street leading to Mercer Street became part of Princeton's driving culture.

Two weeks ago, Princeton Borough contractors painted the final stripes and put the finishing touches on a new road that is clearly a significant improvement on the old road. The improvement, which began down by McCarter Theatre right after the July 4 holiday, has been, to some drivers, a long time coming.

The hold-up, said Borough Engineer Carl Peters, was the storm sewer and sanitary sewer replacement work that had been done between College Road and Nassau Street. In addition, curbs and sidewalks had to be replaced.

And while most drivers and pedestrians learned to live with the roadway's closure, one of the most prominent businesses on University Place – the University Store – suffered.

Virginia France, director of marketing at the U-Store, said those working at the store "certainly" felt the effects of the roadwork.

"Convenience is one of our strong suits," she said. "Not only were some [driving] customers unable to come in and shop at a given moment, but there was also a residual effect because people tend to go elsewhere, and once they change their shopping habits, it's hard to come back."

"It's been painful," she added.

Because the U-Store has relied upon, and has even marketed, the location of its parking lot, which is directly across the street, it had become increasingly difficult for customers to drive up to the store, as they had been accustomed to in the past. At last count, Ms. France said, the student to non-student customer ratio is about 3-2.

"It was harder for people to get here and sometimes when that happens, people give up," Ms. France said.

The construction work also dampened celebratory efforts for the store's recent 100th anniversary sale, a sale that Ms. France called "quite successful," barring the fact that on the first day of the sale, University Place was entirely closed. "Anybody who wanted to come here really wanted to come here and we were hoping that the sale would mitigate some of the lost business we'd experienced in recent months."

The store did take the opportunity of slower business, however, to move its books section down from the third floor to the first floor.

But Ms. France is far from bitter and is, like most other Princetonians, glad University Place is repaved and has re-opened. "Once the signs come down and they see how nice the street is, people will come back."

On the bright side, perhaps more people than ever before will be visiting the U-Store, since according to the Borough's Mr. Peters, University Place will be the primary detour when portions of Alexander Street are closed. Weather permitting, those closures could occur as soon as this week.