Auke Bay is changing, and with it, so will DeHarts Auke Bay Store.<\/p>\n
The convenience store and bait shop — a staple for boaters and residents out the road — is up for sale for $2,675,000. Current owner Dan Hickok told the Empire that he’s not in a hurry to sell the place, but the business has suffered recently due to road construction in the area.<\/p>\n
“With the struggle of the past five years I just put it on the market kind of deal, with no desperation whatsoever. It’s been struggling the past five years but there’s light at the end of the tunnel,” Hickok said.<\/p>\n
Major road reconstruction from Fritz Cove Road to Seaview Avenue has slowed traffic in the area in recent years. Last summer, vehicles sometimes had to wait 10 or 15 minutes to share one-lane access on Glacier Highway. The building of a roundabout next to DeHarts before that also limited access to the store.<\/p>\n
All the construction has hurt business, Hickok said, by about 20 percent. The store depends on drop in customers — the fisherman who needs a bait or tackle before departing from nearby Auke Bay, the customer who needs to gas up before heading out the road.<\/p>\n
Hickok said dealing with construction have been tough.<\/p>\n
“We almost threw up our arms and said enough already,” he said.<\/p>\n
If somebody doesn’t buy the store, at least he’s past the trial and error of dealing with road construction immediately next to the building, he said.<\/p>\n