Out With The Old, In With The New for Downtown Barnegat Business

This story is the first in what will be an ongoing series examining how the shifing economy is affecting the local community. will look at the economy from Barnegat's point of view, and Patch sites around the country will be sharing their own stories. Got an idea for a story? Send it to graelyn.brashear@patch.com.

Last week, Chenna Nukala watched the roof get ripped off the building that had been his business’ home for the better part of a decade.

The owner of on North Main Street in downtown Barnegat wasn’t sorry to see the old one-story structure go. For awhile, he even got in the cab of the grapple machine that destroyed it.

For Nukala, 33, the demolition of his old store coincides with the start of something new. Late last month, he opened the doors of his new location, in a brand-new building his landlord had built next door. And as the old site becomes a parking lot, people are pouring into his new store.

Still, he said, it was a little surreal to watch the old place crumble.

“It took an entire year to build this,” he said, gesturing to the new building, “and five minutes to break that one.”

Nukala was born in south India and moved as a young teen to New Orleans, where his parents owned a convenience store. Changing circumstances brought his family to Barnegat, and Nukala followed after graduating from Louisiana State University, where he studied computer programming.

His first job out of school was at the very store he watched come apart last week. It started him on a path he didn’t expect to take. He knew from his parents’ experience that owning a store meant grueling, ceaseless work.

“I went into college thinking I’d never be a businessman, because I saw what they went through,” he said.

But he came to love the fact that working behind the counter meant forging strong bonds with those around him.

“I didn’t see myself sitting in front of a computer for the rest of my life,” he said. “I’m just more of a people person.”

In Nukala’s eyes, Barnegat was the perfect place to run a friendly neighborhood business, and he loves living where he works.

“You really do get to know people on a more personal level,” he said. “This is a really small town, and I like that.”

Not that the road has been easy. When he bought out his employers’ business seven years ago and then moved it to the North Main Street building where he’d first started working, he was already planning on expanding.

But contrary to common belief, he said, the retail liquor industry isn’t recession-proof.

“It’s an urban legend,” Nukala said. Back in the Depression, when everything was underground, maybe that was the case. But today, it’s just like any other business. “Now you have to deal with insurance and bank mortgages,” he said.

With the economic downturn came a noticeable drop in sales. Summer used to be a boom time, with people stocking up for parties. The mood has changed, and with it, the market. But Nukala has found ways to be successful.

“Your customers tell you what they want,” he said.

Now, with his new space completed, his business will better fit the vision he started out with.

With far more space both on the shop floor and in storage, “it gives me more buying power in terms of stock and in terms of variety,” he said. When he buys from distributors, he can buy more at a time, which gives him more clout and more savings.

And then, he said, “I pass it on to customers.”

Watching the building where his career began and his business took shape become a pile of rubble was actually something of a relief, he said. He’d already said his goodbyes, so to speak, when he moved out.

Now his energy is focused next door.

“I’m hoping this will be a success,” he said of the bigger, better Meyers. “It’s not a given. It’s a risk, but it’s a calculated risk. If I succeed, I’ll be happy. If not, I’ll move on to another venture.”