For some local retailers, the sweet sound of “ka-ching” is the only christmas flowers italy present they’re hoping for this season. They know that with the holidays come shoppers — many armed with long lists, expensive tastes and gold cards. And for one glorious month, business might be good — it might be very good.
But as some merchants work to leverage the season, at least eight Victor mainstays are closing their doors and turning out the lights for good. Another four have changed hands and are moving ahead under new management.
Why? Was it the result of poor business decisions? A less than ideal location? The sagging economy? Big box store competition? Or was it simply the role of the dice? There may be no one-size-fits-all answer.
A stable business
One Victor closing in particular was a real stunner to its patrons — after 12 years of thriving business and heavy community investment, Trailblazers Bike Shop rang up its last sale in late October.
“It’s just been a whirlwind,” said owner Victor Gaspar. “Basically it has been about six weeks in the works. It’s a very complicated thing when you decide to do something like this.”
But he has no doubts about why it happened.
“Small business is just getting pinched out in America,” said Gaspar. “The small guy — it’s very hard in the economic conditions that we are in. Look who’s surviving now — it’s your big guys. Walmart’s never, ever going out of business. K-Mart will always be in business. All those guys are taking a little bit away everyday from the small guy.”
A veteran owner
Nancy Noonan has a lavish display of antiques, collectibles and holiday decorations in the windows of Gatherings, her Main Street store. But on Jan. 13 when she closes up shop for good, they’ll be empty.
“We’ve struggled for two and a half years,” said Noonan. “Business was going like gangbusters at first, but from last christmas flowers italy blogs until now it’s been terrible. The writing is on the wall. People aren’t supporting the little stores. They’re going to the malls and big box stores.”
Noonan is no rookie to retail, either — Gatherings is her second business. The first was Liberty Cottage which was open in Penfield, Honeoye Falls and Canandaigua for a total of about seven years. At Gatherings, she and her husband have done a lot of advertising. They even gave out over 300 coupons offering 15 percent off, but shoppers just aren’t biting.
“You can have wonderful stuff in your stores but if they’re not going to buy it, you can’t keep the store open,” said Noonan. “You can’t survive. And if you don’t make the money, you can’t pay your bills. I’ve got lots of people coming in but they are not spending money. They’re holding onto that dollar. At our house we’re doing the same thing — trying to cut back (and save on expenses). What are you going to do? It is what it is.”
Normal churn?
“I think some of the attrition — and addition — that we are seeing is normal churn in a market of this size,” said Mitch Donovan, president of the Victor Chamber of Commerce.
“While I’m disappointed that some of these businesses didn’t survive, I’m not alarmed,” he said. “I’m pleased to see that many of them have been replaced by other businesses, and I believe that Victor will continue to attract new businesses. I don’t expect any vacancies to stay vacant for long.”
Donovan spoke highly of several local treasures, such as the Chit Chat Cafe and Victor Coal and Lumber. He applauded the unequaled personal service that small business owners like these can offer — and Trailblazers was no exception.
“Every time you took your bike there, he knew your name and knew the size of your bike seat.”
Still, it wasn’t enough to bring in the sales and keep the doors open.
Advice to new business owners
“Retail is just a grind of a business,” said Donovan. “It’s very difficult for any small retailer to survive. You’re got to be willing to live through a period of time with little or no income.”
According to Donovan, a rock solid marketing plan, business plan, and financial backing are critical. With those pieces in place, the small business survival rate goes up dramatically.
“And if you’re not willing to work evenings and weekends, your chances of success dim considerably,” he added. “If you’re after the dual income/no kid demographic, you’ve got to be open when they want to shop.”
Collaboration
Donovan also underlined the importance of businesses working together to “cross promote and market” themselves, citing the value of organizations like the Chamber of Commerce and SCORE: Rochester.
“Utilizing every resource that’s available to a business person these days takes time,” said Donovan, “but it pays off in the long run.
Reinvention
Tim Maher, president of the Victor Downtown Merchants Association and owner of Apparel Printers Plus said longevity has a lot to do with the ability to adapt and change. Something he learned the hard way.
“In 2008 we were going gangbusters,” Maher said of his own business. “In 2009 we almost closed our doors. (At that time) my whole business was focused on large orders only. In 2010 we made some investments, expanded our business market and expanded our business model. We changed our pricing, equipment, locations, and now we do a quantity of one to where ever you want to go.”
Best practice, according to Maher, is to become diverse enough that if one market closes, another one opens up.
“The secret to a business is you have to make yourself recession-proof,” said Maher. “Some are able to do that and some aren’t, depending on what their product is and what they’re selling. Nobody ever opens a business with the idea that they are going to fail. You have constantly be looking at your business.”
Maher said he watches three to four webinars a week to stay on the leading edge of his business. But in the end, there are no magic solutions.
“What do you do? You get up in the morning. You put your best foot forward and look for ways to put yourself out in front of the competition,” he said.
Now what?
With Trailblazers newly closed, what’s next on the horizon for Victor Gaspar?
“I’m going to relax and probably sleep for two days,” he said. “Then I’m going to go out and try to get a job that’s not retail, because that’s all I’ve done since I was 16. I’ve never had a Saturday or a Sunday off in my life, unless I actually took a vacation day.
“I’ll be riding (my bike) a lot more,” he said, “so I’m happy about that. But first thing I have to do is, I do have to find work. I do need to work.”
Sage advice
Owners and employees of the former Historic Dryer House Emporium, Gatherings, Taste of Italy, Leo’s Pizza, Naked Pizza, Cafe 54 and Merle Norman cosmetics are facing changes as well.
And for now, the buildings that used to house their businesses await new entrepreneurs with a dream and enough financial backing to launch them forward.
In the mean time, a new game store has opened up next to the old Trailblazers and Historic Dryer House Emporium sites.
Gaspar’s advice to the Game Gamut’s young owner was clear and straightforward.
“Monitor (everything) and be really, really discriminating,” he said. “Don’t go too crazy. Grow, but also prepare for the worst. The good thing is, right now I think we are in the worst, so it’s only going to get better.”
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