BOISE, Idaho — Take a few steps from State and Sycamore streets in Boise, and you'll walk into the Bargain Book store.
"We're rescuing a lot of these books from the landfill," Clayton Scherer, owner of the store, said. "Me and my wife purchased Bargain books in September last year and we are the new owners."
Their business hasn't gone as planned, thanks in part to what he says is the ongoing construction on State Street that's happening right in front of his store.
"Before the construction started we've seen a 30 to 70 percent decrease weekly in sales from that," he said. "It's placed a huge burden on a lot of our customers."
But a new campaign between the Ada County Highway District and 29 businesses near and around State Street hopes to lend a helping hand to stores like Scherer's.
The campaign is called 'Shop State,' which Natalie Shaver, a spokesperson for ACHD, says is something that they've never done before.
"We're encouraging people to go into the business and post on social media and you use the hashtag, #ShopState," Shaver said.
More times that people are using #ShopState, the more chances they have to win prizes, which are picked daily.
The prizes are all things donated by the businesses involved. They range from a gift certificate to that business or a gift basket a business put together. The campaign started on April 29 and lasts through May 10.
The goal is to get more people into the shops impacted by road construction, like buying books at Bargain Books or any of the other 28 businesses involved. The shops involved range from Caffeina Roasters, Like Nu Car Wash, to Enchanting Objects and more.
"We're still here and we're still open and we still have some good stuff," Scherer said.
Scherer told KTVB that he still can't wait for the construction to be done. ACHD expects that work to be wrapped up sometime in Fall 2019.
"Very much so, I'd love to be able to see what our sales numbers will be like then," he said.