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WINSTON-SALEM — Conversation at the Old 311 Curb Market Thursday morning quickly turned to the day’s top story: Dell’s plan to close its nearby computer plant.

The store’s two employees and lone customer lamented the fact that more than 900 people will lose their jobs, but no one shed a tear for the giant company that located just up Union Cross Road four years ago.

“We couldn’t care less whether Dell is here or not,” said John Rominger, who has lived in the community for 64 years. “I knew they weren’t going to make it. Just the way they were doing business.”

Employee Susan Locklear added that some of the Dell workers stopped in Wednesday, the day they learned the plant would close, asking about job openings.

“Some of them don’t know what they’re going to do,” Locklear said. “But they didn’t bring us much business. We’ll survive.”

Up and down Union Cross Road in eastern Forsyth County, residents and business owners felt much the same: they got along without Dell before it moved into their community and they will get along without it after it leaves.

Granted, some will get along more easily than others.

At the Sugar & Spice Child Enrichment Center, owner and director Chanthini Cruise may have to cut back hours, but she doesn’t know when and for how long.

The center operates 23 hours a day. Currently, 10 of the 127 children enrolled belong to Dell employees.

“With them losing their jobs, they will not be able to keep their children in day care,” Cruise said. “I kind of suspected (the plant would close), but we have been praying it wasn’t true.”

Cruise chose the location on Union Cross Road because it would be near the Dell plant.

At the Union Cross Market, owner Chuck Shah expects to lose 5 to 10 percent of his business because of the closing. He says the plant’s workers stop in for gas, snacks, cigarettes or to buy lottery tickets.

“Everything will slow down,” Shah said. “They make a difference.”

At the Union Cross Station shopping center, Shirish Patel worries that he may have to reduce the hours at his Citgo station, a popular stopping place for Dell workers.

“They come in all the time,” Patel said, noting that Dell workers make up 50 percent of his nighttime traffic. “We will lose some business. We will see how it goes.”

If Patel cuts his hours, he said he may have to lay off two of his workers.

Forsyth County business officials point out that the loss of Dell will have more impact on businesses like Patel’s and Shah’s than it will on the local food store, dry cleaner or nail shop. That’s because few of Dell’s employees live in the Union Cross area.

“I don’t think there is going to be any significant impact on the community,” said Gayle Anderson, president of the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce. “Dell’s employment is from the surrounding counties.”

But some wonder what impact the loss of Dell will have on area development, especially given the length and depth of the current recession.

Large plots of former farmland — with “For Sale” signs prominently displayed — dot the sides of Union Cross Road.

Ladd Freeman, a broker with Freeman Commercial Real Estate, believes the buyers will come to the property his firm is marketing near U.S. 311.

He says a new use eventually will be found for the Dell plant and businesses will be attracted to the area’s proximity to Piedmont Triad International Airport and the new FedEx hub.

“It’s a media blow to the community,” Freeman said, “but I think it’s short term.”

But the loss of Dell could further stall development of the Shoppes at Glen Crossing, a long-delayed, 180,000-square-foot project near Glenn High School.

Ray Krawiec, president of J&R Ventures, said Dell’s closing “could have some bearing” on the timetable for the project.

“I don’t think it is make or break,” Krawiec said of Dell’s impact. “I think it is a timing thing. The community is not going to dry up and die because Dell has gone. I am sure it will survive. It may just take a little bit longer. Everybody was anticipating that Dell was going to be a quick shot in the arm.”

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com