Many factors contribute to small business success

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Posted 8:38AM on Thursday, May 2, 2002

NEW YORK - The recession hasn't meant angst and worry for Matt McCabe. Business at his music store in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., has stayed strong. "I've been very fortunate," McCabe said. "This is a very arts-oriented community." While the economy's downtown has had a deep and widespread impact on American business in general, the experiences of small business owners have varied widely, reflecting the importance of a wide variety of factors, some of which are unique to each business. Ask business owners how they've fared, and you get a patchwork of responses. For McCabe, owner of Saratoga Guitar and two other music stores north of Albany, N.Y., location has been a big part of his ability to weather the economic downturn well. He noted that the state capital has been affected less by the recession than other areas. "But put me in Buffalo, and I would be crying for food money," McCabe said. Rising prices for energy and warmer winter weather are bigger factors in business than the national economy at Alpine Chimney Sweep Co. in Des Moines, Iowa. Owner Janie Rickord said her company's wood stove installation business has been very strong as more homeowners decided they'd had enough of rising heating oil and natural gas prices. And no matter what state the economy is in, there are always crises that must be dealt with - Alpine still gets the same number of calls to extricate animals that have become trapped in chimneys. Rickord said the weaker economy has cut slightly into her chimney sweeping business, but the warm winter is likely to have a bigger impact - homeowners burned fewer fires, and there be less demand for chimney cleaning this summer and fall. Changes in the neighborhood as well as the economy were the challenges facing Joan Miller, owner of Early to Bed, a home furnishings store in Omaha, Neb. Miller and her husband had a mattress business in another part of the city, but sales were being hurt by the construction of a new arena and convention center, and so they closed that operation. "It wasn't going to get any better, so we focused on our linens store," Miller said. Sales at that store fell off in February 2001, as the recession was officially starting, and "last July was very nerve-racking," Miller said. Business has been better since the end of the third quarter of last year, and Miller attributed the improvement to the fact people have stayed close to home in months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Business at War & Pieces, a hobby shop in West Hartford, Conn., has also followed the economy's path fairly closely. Owner Rich Petro said the two months after Sept. 11 were the slowest he's seen since 1995, with sales off 25 percent. "But at Christmas, it came back with a vengeance, pretty much close to 2000," Petro said. Petro said that while consumers are holding back somewhat, "they feel more comfortable on spending, especially on the kind of stuff I sell." But luxuries and extras had to go by the wayside for many consumers, and at Groomer's Pet Salon in Davie, Fla., near Fort Lauderdale, business fell off sharply, owner Lois Veverka said. She estimated that her business groomed at least 50 to 60 fewer dogs each week. "Within this week, I've seen it picking it up, but not to the numbers I'm used to," Veverka said. Veverka is hopeful about the future, but the unique realities of her summer business have to do with fleas and ticks - when the bugs come out, her customers are likely to bring their pets in more often. Many dry cleaners have seen sales slip because people get their clothes professionally cleaned less often when the economy slows. Yet Jim Bentley, who owns dry cleaning stores with his brother in Atlanta and Monroe, Ga., said business has only grown, through hard work and perseverance The Atlanta store is brand-new, but sales at the Monroe store this year are expected to be about $150,000, double the take in 2001 and five times what the store took in during 2000. "We have done promotions and things to try to keep it (business) stimulated," Bentley said. "We've been able to at least keep people coming in for the things they need service for."