Deployment's 'domino effect' is felt
by businesses near Fort Bragg
By Jeremy Kirk, Stars and
Stripes
Jeremy Kirk / Stars and Stripes
Linda Parrous, owner of Luigi's, an Italian restaurant in Fayettevile, N.C., said
community businesses felt a big impact when troops deployed to the Persian Gulf. |
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — When soldiers deploy, their money goes with them.
That may mean a tough time for businesses in North Carolina communities that host large
numbers of soldiers who may be deployed soon in response to the terrorist attacks on the
World Trade Center and Pentagon.
In Fayetteville, which hosts Fort Bragg, the second largest Army post in the country,
many businesses dependent on post dollars saw lean times during the year soldiers fought
Iraq in 1990 and 1991 during the Persian Gulf War. The post has more than 40,000 soldiers.
"Pretty much knowing what impact it had the previous time, I think that’s
what everybody is fearful of, especially in this kind of war, where it’s [the
conflict is] not clear-cut," said Linda Parrous, owner of Luigi’s, an Italian
restaurant started by her father in 1950.
"You definitely feel the effects of it when a lot of our military is gone because
then their families leave. It’s a domino effect."
Luigi’s is well-established in the community and has many repeat customers,
Parrous said. The restaurant stayed afloat during the Gulf war by cutting back on staff,
she said.
Many military wives with no real ties to the community left, likely to move closer to
relatives, said Colee Giddens, who has owned Cornerstone Real Estate Inc. for 12 years.
Her business, located about 300 feet from Fort Bragg, is heavily dependent on the
military, specializing in finding rental homes.
Her business slowed a bit during the Gulf War. Some military families broke leases to
move away. Recently, Giddens said she questioned a young military couple about renting to
make sure, in light of the recent events, that they wanted to commit to a lease, she said.
"She said ‘He’ll come back and this is where they’re going to
be,’" Giddens said.
Landlords have been calling Giddens’ office recently, asking if the leases they
have will hold. But property owners are more forgiving with military families, given the
range of financial and support problems that can arise with deployments, Giddens said.
The possible deployment comes at a time when companies have cut back and laid off
workers, in part because of the terrorist attack or the already sluggish economy. In those
conditions, military families are less likely to replace an old couch with a new one, said
Beth Birch, co-owner of the Smithboro Furniture Company in Fayetteville.
"There were a lot of businesses in town [during the Gulf War] that had a real
tough time," Birch said. "We did have a slump in sales but we certainly survived
and became a little bit stronger."
Fayetteville’s demographics seem to have changed, Birch said, with more families
living off-post and owning homes here. She said she doesn’t expect the exodus that
happened during the Gulf War to happen again.
About 30,000 of the 40,000 Marines at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C., were deployed
to the Persian Gulf, said Susanne Sartelle, president of the Jacksonville-Onslow Chamber
of Commerce. While the town of 70,000 does have some large employers, the military by far
is the largest and has always provided soldiers with steady, guaranteed income, she said.
"Our businesses right now are somewhat apprehensive and uncertain of what the
future holds," Sartelle said.
For fiscal 1990-91, retail sales growth slowed to 3 percent when the Marines were away,
down from 6 percent. The figure was a "whole lot better than anybody else
expected," Sartelle said.
Officials at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in Havelock, N.C., stay in touch
with the local community through the Military Affairs Committee, composed of military
leaders, local civilian leaders and business interests, said 1st Lt. John Caldwell. The
post is the largest Marine Corps air station in the country.
"If an elected official or area resident has a concern, they have direct access to
our [leaders]," Caldwell said. "No particular concerns regarding future
deployments have been raised by the surrounding communities to date."
Laynie Beck, a Fayetteville real estate broker with 19 years of experience, said he
expects business during a big deployment to be roughly the same.
"It’s going to have some bearing probably, but I don’t seeing it being
that significant," Beck said. "Instead of working harder, it means I have to
work a little smarter."
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