Restaurants near Third Street noticing a dip in customers

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Harp has been a staple in Wilmington for years, known for its food and fun atmosphere.
But the restaurant’s owners say they have seen a decrease in customers since a busy section of Third Street closed. In the days since the Third Street construction started traffic is up, but numbers of customers at The Harp are down.
“We noticed a pretty substantial decrease as people didn’t realize that you can’t get this far down third street, Jennifer O’Hara said. “We had a probably 40% decrease.”
Jennifer O’Hara is a bartender at The Harp. She says that things looked better on this night, but it’s still not the norm. What she worries people don’t know is that there are still ways to get to The Harp.
“You can still come up Front Street and up Greenfield,” O’Hara said. “If you’re all the way Downtown you can come all the way to us down Third, where not as many people thought you can get this far down Third.”
O’Hara recognizes that the construction has to happen, but that shouldn’t stop customers from going to this popular Wilmington location.
“The food is definitely worth it, it’s a great atmosphere and we’ve got music,” O’Hara said. “Sometimes there’s some detours in life but this one is worth it to take it.”
The construction on Third Street will continue until the end of this year. But owners at The Harp say as time passes they hope things will improve.