Hundreds of prime parking spots have disappeared in downtown Fredericton.

The parking garage in Kings Place is undergoing significant repairs and will be closed for six months.

Ruth MacLellan said her business saw an immediate 25 per cent drop in sales the last time the Kings Place parking garage closed. (CBC)

The closure takes 420 parking spaces out of service for the summer and that has business owners in the Kings Place mall worried, given their experience with a similar closure in 2012.

During that time, the parking garage closed abruptly for emergency repairs after small pieces of concrete detached.

Ruth MacLellan said the impact on her business — The Shamporium — was immediate and severe.

"Between 25 and 30 per cent reduction in sales for that period of time," she said.

"And then a lot of people, you don't see them back again because they have changed their habits."

Fortis Properties plans to spend $5 million upgrading the parking garage.

MacLellan said everyone wants a safe parking garage, but it's tough to swallow as a small retailer.

"If I could show you my empty pocket I would. That's exactly where it impacts," she said.

Yvette Sadd, a hairdresser, said she is optimistic her salon in Kings Place won't be impacted too severely by the temporary closure.

"Our clients, like, they're going to come regardless," she said.

"They park out there on the meter, but I think it can be a little inconvenient for them to find spots because, as we all know, there's not too many downtown."

The parking garage is scheduled to reopen in October.