Los Angeles ( CNN ) -- Will the closure of the Interstate 405 in Los Angeles hurt small businesses ? The forecasts of gridlock have been alarming , but as a 10-mile stretch of the 405 closes for 53 hours this weekend , businesses say there is a lot more than a traffic jam at stake . `` They are making it out to be a nuclear event , '' hairdresser Jon Condon said . He said city officials have frightened drivers with dire predictions of 50-mile traffic jams . He is closing his Brentwood Village shop this weekend and believes Los Angeles residents will be hunkered down in their homes . `` It 's just too much , '' he said , `` too much of a hassle getting here . '' Brentwood Village is a quaint upscale shopping area just off the portion of the 405 that is to be closed . Down the street , Janet Danova says no one knows what to expect . `` Some people say it will be crazy busy , some people say it will be dead , '' Danova said . The manager of the Brentwood Village Market says she is optimistic -- mildly . Across town , Adrineh Khechadorian is already lamenting lost business . She operates a party rental service with lots of customers in the west side of Los Angeles , the area most affected by the planned 405 closure . 'Carmaggedon ' begins Friday night in L.A. `` We 've had two major parties canceled this week , '' Khechadorian told CNN . The hosts , she said , believed their guests would not be willing to brave the traffic . But , according to the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce , some business people are hoping to turn the predicted gridlock into gold . Restaurateur Frank Pezeshki has purchased extra food for his burger joint , located in the shadow of the 405 , less than a mile from where the freeway will be closed . `` Drivers will be hungry after sitting in traffic all day , '' Pezeshki said . O'Neil Sportswear in Santa Monica is one of dozens of businesses running special `` 405 '' sales . `` We are hoping to attract local customers , '' Manager Wendy Harrell said . She has few illusions that customers will be lured from across town this weekend . Even artists are hoping that Carmageddon will lead to more exposure for their work . Composer Ken Elkinson is offering free downloads of his `` Music for Commuting . '' It was recorded , he says , to ease the tensions of being stuck in southern California 's insufferable traffic . And he anticipates that this will be a high-demand weekend for his work . But motorist Rita Longcore offers her own prescription for beating the Carmageddon blues . `` I 'm not getting in my car , '' she says .
The the weekend closure of the popular the Interstate 405 is dubbed `` Drivers business is also closing for weekend , too . But a sportswear shop is remaining open with a `` two '' sale .