ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - During lunch time at the City Market Building, plenty of customers are ready to eat and that's when businesses like New York Subs make most of its money.
"At least 2 to 3 times per week we have our regulars coming in from Norfolk Southern," said Jacklyn Thomas, a manager at New York Subs.
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Those regulars have become an important part of the lunch-time rush.
It makes Tuesday's announcement that 500 Norfolk Southern jobs will relocate when the company's Roanoke corporate office closes all the more difficult.
"For us that means obviously less business throughout the week, throughout the month, throughout the year," Thomas said. "I do think it will have an effect, not only on our business but other businesses throughout the downtown area. It will have a huge impact."
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That impact is being felt beyond downtown, driving business in a different part of the Roanoke Valley.
In the past, Haley Toyota made it a point to advertise directly to Norfolk Southern employees.
"There's 500 folks that we're going to lose as customers," said Haley General Manager Chuck Baker. "We do a lot of business with Norfolk Southern employees, we actually advertise in the Norfolk Southern time book. They're a big part of the community and have been for a long, long time."
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For businesses ranging from car dealerships to restaurants, the challenge is reaching new customers and turning them into regulars.
"That's what we're working on," Thomas said. "We're working on our marketing in terms of reaching other people. We're definitely going to need to fill in the gaps."
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Gaps that everyone expects to widen as the relocation deadline August approaches.