NASHUA – Forty some odd years ago, Dick Avard was a salesman in his father’s clothing store, the last time Nashua workers replaced the city’s Main Street sidewalks.

“They were tearing up the concrete and replacing it with brick,” said Avard, who now owns his own clothing store, Dick Avard’s Haberdashery, on Main Street.

“People complained like crazy,” he said Thursday. “Now here we are 40 years later, and they’re tearing up the brick and putting down concrete. … It shows you, in business, things come full circle.”

Throughout this summer, the sidewalk project, replacing the sidewalks along the east and west sides of Main Street, have combined with the struggling economy to chase some shoppers from the downtown area, business owners said. But like the 1970s project before it, this too shall pass, they said.

“It’s been a rough summer, but it won’t last forever,” said Joe Drift, owner of Saffron Bistro on Main Street.

“We’re still in the part of the cycle where small family, boutique businesses are still getting hit hard,” added Chris Williams, president of the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce. “Hopefully, we’ll start to come out of it soon.”

The summer season is typically a slow one, business owners said. Customers are away on vacation for much of the season, and with the warm weather, the ones that remain home don’t spend a lot of time shopping.

Still, neither the sidewalk construction, nor the city’s new parking rules made it easier on business, some owners said.

Last fall, city officials adopted new parking regulations that increased fees and enforced time limits. Under the new rules, parking fees doubled to $1 an hour downtown. They placed a 90-minute limit on certain spots and extended the hours that people pay to park from 8 a.m.-7 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

“That’s definitely been a change. You see a lot less foot traffic now, especially on Saturdays,” said Svetlana Yanushkevich, owner of WineNot Boutique on Main Street, who saw a reduction in business this summer. “People are annoyed they have to move their cars every few hours.”

But other business owners had a different take on the parking regulations.

Marylou Blaisdell, co-owner of Design Wares Artisan Gallery, praised the new rules for increasing passenger flow downtown by preventing workers from occupying parking spots throughout the day.

“Before we had people feeding the meters all day long. … This keeps traffic moving,” Blaisdell said.

“It’s been good for us,” added Wendell Palmer, manager at Alec’s Shoes on Main Street, which has maintained business through the summer. “Some people complain about (the increased parking fees), but I think it’s helped more than it’s hurt. … We’re doing very well.”

Beyond parking, the other factor that has helped some businesses has been events scheduled around the downtown area.

This summer, the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce premiered an outdoor movie series Wednesday nights, and the Nashua branch of Greater American Downtown held several outdoor music events, as well.

“Those helped. It definitely brought some people out,” said Yanushkevich, of WineNot Boutique.

“We had upwards of 400 people each time,” Rebecca Dixon, executive director of the Greater American Downtown organization, said of the music events. “It’s a good way to introduce people to downtown and let them know what we have down here.”

Looking forward, the city’s weekly farmers market could help draw customers downtown through much of the fall, business owners said. The market will run every Sunday through Oct. 21. And many businesses are hoping the Nashua chamber will expand its public events calendar next summer.

“Anything we can do to promote downtown helps all of us,” said Sean Birmingham, a bartender at the Nashua Garden sports bar.

More than anything, business owners are hoping that, by next summer, the economy will improve, helping businesses to recover fully.

“That’s the biggest thing,” said Avard. “Right now, customers are cutting back a bit, and we’re all feeling it.

“You can’t blame them,” he said. “I’m doing it myself.”

Jake Berry can be reached at 594-6402 or jberry@nashuatelegraph.com.