Businesses band together with t-shirt promotion in wake of bridge closure

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) – Businesses in Southport, Oak Island are coming together through a t-shirt to let visitors and locals know they want their patronage.
All of this as they anxiously await the closing of the G.V. Barbee Senior bridge.

It’s a twist on a classic song. Businesses hope loyal and potential customers alike will see it. They say it’s a message to let patrons know that this summer will be an important one for local businesses.

“It’s been a great opportunity for all of us to sort of spread the word, what we are, what we do, where you can find us,” said business owner Francesca Clemmons.

They’ve created hundreds of these shirts saying ‘Troubled Bridge over Water’

“It’s a conversation starter,” said Melissa Bryant who works in Oak Island at Nancy Joe’s Bakery. “I work at a Farmer’s Market and I wear it every time I go to the farmer’s market and they’re asking me, ‘what is this all about?’ and I’ll usually end up turning it around and showing them all the local businesses that will be impacted by this bridge.”

That impact being Oak Island’s Barbee bridge closing to all traffic.

NCDOT plans to close down the Barbee Bridge by mid October of this year. Construction will go through Easter of 2019. That’s a change from the original time line which was from September 2018 to May of 2019. It came after DOT officials compromised with local leaders to begin work after the local King Mackerel fishing tournament.

Clemmons is one of several businesses spearheading the promotion.
Her arts and design shop, Barn and Beach Designs, sits along Long Beach Road leading into Oak Island.

“I’m concerned that, that one thoroughfare is going to be cut off because now it’s going to become a dead-end road,” Clemmons.

Her concerns echoed by Bryant.

“As a patron and a worker, it’s going to be difficult for me because I live on the other side of the bridge in Southport,” Bryant said.

It’s an informal request for customers to funnel their money to local stores and one from owner to owner saying that they will weather the storm together.

“Nothing brings people together like a common foe and right now it’s the closing of a bridge,” Clemmons said.