CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Vendors have been impacted by the power outage at the Corpus Christi Trade Center.
The popular shopping destination has been without power for two weeks, with AEP Texas telling 3NEWS Tuesday that the center had electrical issues with its service breaker that need to be fixed before they can open.
Recent storms in the Coastal Bend are the cause of a power outage that left Trade Center vendors without a place to do business.
Trade Center General Manager Terry Remore said they hired an electrical contractor to handle the repairs and hopefully get the power back on this Friday.
Local vendors are happy to hear the update, since for many, their livelihood depends on it.
Michael "Broken Horn" Gomez owns two stores in the Corpus Christi Trade Center. After weeks without power, he's one of many local vendors forced to find a new way to stay open for business.
"It reminds me of the malls back in the day, you know, when it was shoulder to shoulder. So, we miss the traffic and of course we miss the business," Gomez said.
He added that he is fortunate to have another location for his comic book business, which opened in July. His income is based on how well it does. He isn't the only one eager for the Trade Center to reopen as soon as possible.
Joshua Maisonet, another local vendor, recently bought his first home with his fiancé. He says the current situation is putting a strain on their finances.
"It's kind of just caused a bit of a financial hardship these past couple of weeks," Maisonet said. "You know, we're managing and we're doing our very best to get by at the moment."
Despite the unexpected closure, Masionet said his business is gaining more of an online presence than ever, since that's the only way he can sell right now.
"We get to now get back in, do what we do, and let our clients and our customers know that ok, we were out for a couple of weeks, but we haven't forgotten about you and come back and everything is going to be just the same, if not better," Masionet said.
Gomez and Maisonet said other vendors share their optimism that the Trade Center will open this weekend.
AEP Texas said once the electrical repairs are made and the Trade Center passes a City inspection, they will be notified and turn the power back on.
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