Steve Keinzle noticed a change around the first of the year.
The manager of Mac’s Hardware in north Dickinson said his business catered to many oilfield service companies, both big and small — mostly hot-shot crews and roustabout companies — that would come in and buy everything from tools to flame-retardant gear for employees.
But when the oil prices dropped out, so did much of that business.
“Their budgets went away real fast,” Keinzle said. “And, of course, we felt that effect right away. The traffic is down.”
Many business owners and managers in Dickinson say they’re feeling the effects of the drop in oil prices as much as anyone else. For some businesses, traffic and profits are down. Others report steady customer flow not all that different from a year ago, when oil drilling in western North Dakota was at an all-time high — particularly around Dickinson.
Some say it isn’t all bad. They say they’re happy to have more time to work on projects, improve infrastructure and think ahead instead of worrying about the challenges the oil boom brought them over the past few years.
“It’s a nice reprieve to be able to slow down a little and catch a breath, because once things get going again, (business) will pick up,” said Todd Anderson, service manager at T-Rex Conoco off Third Avenue West in north Dickinson.
Anderson said he’s noticed a definite slowdown in work. Now his crew has time to take walk-in oil changes or fix vehicles without work being scheduled weeks in advance.
“I’d say equivalent to before the oil came,” he said.
On the other side of the building, T-Rex convenience store manager Vicki Nogosek said she is ordering less product than she did in 2014.
“You notice pretty much all day that it has slowed down a lot, just in gas and everything,” Nogosek said.
However, she said there is some good that has come with the slowdown in business.
Dustin Monke 