Fourth of July celebration provides much-needed boost for Seward businesses

SEWARD, Neb. (KLKN) – The Fourth of July celebration in Seward is providing a much-needed boost for downtown businesses after a significant road construction project.

Gregg Nelson, the owner of two downtown restaurants – Squire Ward’s and Rue 6 – said today is the biggest day for the local economy with thousands of people shopping and eating local.   

“The town is full, everybody is happy,” Nelson said. “The economic impact is huge.”  

He said road work wrapped up last Thursday just in time for the party.

“Everybody I’ve talked to downtown said business was off pretty much anywhere from 25% up to 50%,” he said.

Downtown was much different on the 4th than in previous weeks.

There were crowds all over the place, open parking spaces and little to no sign of construction.  

Tyler Stastny, the owner of Neutral Grounds, said today is huge for him.  

“When they took away construction, the very next day, our sales, like tripled,” he said. “The construction has been pretty devastating to our business so today means a ton, just the amount of people and sales.”  

He said today’s sales will definitely be a boost for the rest of the year.  

“Today alone, I think we’ve been over 4,00 sales today,” Stastny said.

The next phase of construction continues Monday north of downtown and ends near Seward High School.  

Stastny hopes other business along this area don’t suffer as much as his.  

“For us it’s going to be better, but as they keep moving, every business is affected along the way,”  he said.

This phase is expected to be complete before October.