OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – The Harney Street bridge is reopening next week after nearly a year of construction.
It had to be rebuilt to support the new streetcar coming to Omaha.
Even with the bridge back open, months of challenges are forcing businesses to adapt — or close up shop.
These days, Nodest Home Plants is casting tradition aside.
They’re bringing the plants, and plant care, to you.
“There’s days too where there’s like like three of us in three different places, or like five of us in three different places,” said Shannon Beck, owner of Nodest.
It’s a labor of love. A labor born from hardship.
“I honestly don’t know if I’ve processed anything,” Shannon said. “I’ve been going nonstop.”
The past few months has been the unraveling of everything Shannon spent years building.
Nodest started as a plant shop located within Bad Seed Coffee.
Then, they expanded into the space right next door to the coffee shop.
“It was a very special place, a plant shop, coffee shop,” Shannon said. “Beautiful.”
The streetcar construction shattered all that.
Bad Seed went out of business. Shannon had to vacate the old building at the beginning of the month because foot traffic was down so much.
“We were taking a really big hit at the beginning of October,” Shannon said. “We were down 60% (in sales).”
Shannon’s working on moving to a new location on Farnam, near the Cottonwood Hotel, where there’s still pedestrians walking around.
Her main goal while she waits to move is to keep staff on.
Employee Cal Gaines says Shannon has done that.
“I can speak for myself as well as everyone else at the staff,” Cal said. “We’ve been absolutely overwhelmed and grateful with just the amount of support we’ve gotten.”
The homeowner they’re visiting today says she is also a local business owner. She was inspired by Shannon’s passion for her staff.
“It was really great to be a part of that story and say yeah, absolutely, come to my property as well,” Leanne Prewitt said.
The fact Nodest is still open is a small miracle. For Shannon, without the community’s help…
“I don’t know if we’d still be open.”
At Nodest, tradition was shattered. Now, creativity is helping business bloom.
First Alert 6 first spoke with Shannon a few weeks ago, when she’d spoken up at a town hall with Mayor John Ewing about how streetcar construction was impacting business.
She says she’s been in touch with the mayor’s office, and they’re working on setting up a meeting to get feedback.
She says she wants businesses to have more access to monetary aid to stay afloat, and that despite the Harney Street bridge reopening, the damage is done.
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