Sales at The Salvation Army on Noble Street have severely dropped since the city began street repairs near the location almost five months ago, officials said.

Corps officer Maj. Darrell Kingsbury said the thrift store is selling only a third to half the normal amount of merchandise. That decrease means The Salvation Army's drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, funded largely by sales, is suffering.

Kingsbury said that while the program normally takes 35 men, it's now cutting back to 20.

"We've got creditors asking 'when are you going to pay me,'" he said. "We tell them, 'whenever they get the street done.'"

Jonathan Byrd, engineer for the city of Anniston, said crews finished asphalt work on Monday and the barricades blocking Noble Street at Sixth Street will likely come down today.

That's good news for Kingsbury, as he's planning a customer appreciation sale for Saturday.

"We really need people to come by and shop so we can stay afloat," he said.

A 25-percent-off coupon for Saturday sales at The Salvation Army will be in the Wednesday and Friday editions of The Star. People who don't have a coupon will still get 10 percent off that day, Kingsbury said.

The city closed the street in front of The Salvation Army in early January to repair a collapsed culvert. City officials originally expected the street to be closed for about three months.

Traffic could detour around the blockade to reach The Salvation Army, but Kingsbury said most didn't.

"It's just too much of a hassle," he said. "If they have to go around, they just don't do it."