Rochester Road construction hits Clawson businesses' bottom line

Added: 2026-05-03

[00:00:00]Right, here at 7:00 News Detroit, we are committed to hearing your concerns and your stories. So, when 7:00 News Detroit's Ruda Olsenaite received this email stating there were businesses along Rochester Road in the Clawson and Royal Oak area struggling to get customers through the door, she was there to listen. The construction zone is on Rochester Road between 13 and 14 Mile Roads. The light at the end of the tunnel, unfortunately, not until late fall.

[00:00:26]Ruda is your Clawson reporter. Tonight, she's raising the voices of those business owners, and she's turning to officials to get an update on the extended project.

[00:00:37]During the lunch rush at Julian Brothers Deli in Clawson, How many French rolls? Two or owner Richard Julian is staying busy helping customers. Yep, thank you. And the ones that continue showing up, their support means more than ever right now. And my customers aren't coming in like they used to, especially the older people.

[00:00:56]Julian says he has seen a revenue drop of about 15% daily since construction began on Rochester Road between 13 and 14 Miles. It's financial hardship he has not seen since he opened the shop 55 years ago. Out of everything, the recession, COVID-19, this has affected your business more? Oh, yeah. To make ends meet, Julian, who is now in his 70s, has started to personally deliver groceries and food to customers that have supported him over the years.

[00:01:25]They're the only ones I got.

[00:01:27]You know, so you want to You want to take care of them.

[00:01:29]>> [music] >> Down the road at Flute Specialists, a flute sales and repair shop, while they can maintain the online portion of their business, their physical location mostly sits quiet.

[00:01:40]>> The daily impact of guests coming in and um shopping with us has been impacted significantly. It's made quite a difference in Well, as you can see now, it's it's around lunchtime, and normally we have a lot of people in here. It's a similar story at Sinclair Antiques in Clawson as owner Tom Lepinski says he's lost about 30% of his clientele since construction began, just hoping he doesn't have to shut his doors for good.

[00:02:06]I brought these concerns to Royal Oak City Engineer Holly Donahue to see where the project stands and what can be done to help. Many thought the project was already supposed to be wrapped up, but she says work could not begin on their water main replacement and road diet until the city of Clawson replaced their water mains, which Clawson only recently completed.

[00:02:26]>> So, that was kind of its own separate project, but I'm sure to people around here it felt like one big project cuz as soon as they were gone, we came in with this road project and started our own our own work.

[00:02:35]>> She says contractors are working fast, and all entryways to businesses will remain open despite the road only being one-way for the time being. And once complete, we'll be out of here for a very long time. I hope it wraps up soon, and I hope what they do makes it so much more pleasant that it was worth the wait. The completion date is scheduled for around November of this year, but in the meantime, if you'd like to support these businesses and brave the construction, we would absolutely love to have you. On the Clawson-Royal Oak border, I'm Ruda Olsenaite, 7 News Detroit. Thank you so much, Ruda. Again, that story came from a tip emailed to Ruda. Ruda, of course, dedicated to covering communities across southeastern Oakland County. So, if you have a story idea, scan that QR code on your screen or email her at [email protected].