HENRIETTA, N.Y. — A water main break in the parking lot of South Town Plaza in Henrietta has forced the closure of at least 10 stores just days before Christmas. The break has left business owners concerned about the impact on their holiday sales.

Rick, from Main-Ford General Supply, described the situation. “Came in Saturday morning. There was some small water in the parking lot. Not a lot. By the time I left at 2 p.m., it was starting to bubble out of the ground,” said Rick.

Without running water, Rick cannot open his store for customers. “They’re here looking for a product that I can’t give to them. I can’t let them in the store because we have no water and no fire suppression system,” he said.

Rick expressed concern about the timing of the break. “This is prime time. The Monday before Christmas. This is when everybody comes out looking for things for mom and dad, you know, all the bakers. We supply all the bakers all over Rochester,” said Rick.

Melinda Best, owner of the neighboring Sterling Optical, shared similar worries. “For us it’s critical as well, because we have to see patients. And so, like, today, we had 15 people scheduled. Tomorrow we had about 20,” said Best.

“We have a doctor, who’s an optometrist and, you know, it’s hurting her just as much as us. And we had to cancel all our appointments for the rest of the week. And this is a really, really busy time,” Best said.

News10NBC reached out to both the plaza property owner and the Monroe County Water Authority for information on when the water main will be repaired.

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