National economic woes also felt close to home

By Geoffrey Wertime, Staff Writer
   Nestled in the center of the state, the Main Street of Allentown may not be at the forefront of most people’s minds when talking about the differences between Wall Street and Main Street.
   But the much-publicized troubles in the national economy, which have become fodder in the nation’s election of a president, have hit local businesses as well.
   ”You can see there are no cars parked on either side of the street,” said Janet Tafrow, co-owner of the Quilter’s Cottage at 34 South Main St., which opened last year. She said the borough has not been immune to the nation’s economic woes.
   ”There are fewer people coming in,” she said, “and those who do are watching what they buy.”
   Shoppers nowadays are looking for sales, she said, and come to her store mostly because they have to make something that they can’t put off, such as a wedding gift or a baby blanket.
   Ms. Tafrow said she is trying a number of strategies to attract more customers. In addition to monthly sales, anyone who comes in with $200 in receipts from her store can get 20 percent off a purchase, and customers in her classes can get a discount as well. She is also offering free time on the shop’s quilting machines to those in her classes and customers who buy all their fabric at her store. All of those special offers, she said, are in response to the economic climate.
   Bill Maul owns the Plumsted Grill, which serves American-style food on Route 539. He said he has also seen a change in his customers’ spending habits. “I think people are probably a little more selective in their ordering, going for more inexpensive items,” he said. “But we’re still busy, which is good.”
   Mr. Maul said that while costs have risen on the items he purchases, prices on the menu have stayed the same. “You don’t want to scare people off. You want to try to keep them happy and keep them coming in,” he said, even if it means his restaurant feels the pinch.
   ”If you were to raise your prices to what percentages mine have been raised on my purchasing end, it would maybe sour a lot of people, so we’re trying to keep our consistent clientele,” he said.
   That squeeze also is being felt at Take 5 Gourmet in the Foxmoor Shopping Center in Robbinsville, said co-owner Ira Guttman. “It’s absolutely amazing how quickly it happened,” he said of the gourmet food and coffee shop’s drop in sales, which are “definitely running behind” last year’s.
   Sales are down and customers are buying cheaper items even as prices on the other end increase. But Mr. Guttman said he would try to keep his prices steady as long as possible, having already made cuts to the store’s payroll.
   He described one customer, who each week bought several bags of coffee beans, switching to a single cup and saying he wouldn’t buy beans again “until this whole thing plays out.”
   ”It really takes it down to the nitty-gritty,” Mr. Guttman said. “I’m kind of watching and waiting. If the mindset is that they’re not going to do anything until they see what happens, then there’s no use fighting it.”
   He said he has seen several recessions in his 40-or-so years as a businessman, but thinks this one is scarier because “the media is panicking everyone.” He also noted that shops, like his, which offer comfort foods may be best equipped to weather a long-term depression.
   Georgette Keenan owns Necessities for the Heart, which sells gifts, jewelry, and accessories. She said that while her stores have seen slight downturns at some points recently, things have picked up again this month.
   ”Of course, I was a little cautious, a little worried,” she said, but things have not turned out as she expected. While customers are taking longer to choose an item, she said she has seen a double-digit increase in sales over last year at her three stores, which are located on Main Street in Allentown, in Bordentown, and Point Pleasant.
   ”I think customers are going to be very discerning for their hard-earned buck,” she continued, and will treat shopping “like a social outing.”
   Laura Mount, who owns the “inspirational gift” shop Travelin’ Soul on Main Street in the borough, said sales were slightly down in September, but that month is not the best barometer of business since there is usually a back-to-school slump.
   While she has not seen a significant drop in sales, she said customers are taking more time to consider items, possibly because the big sales holidays are still far off. She said she plans to send out coupons in response to the slowing economy.
   Irene Lynch, owner of Down Home Country on Church Street, said her business has yet to see a decline in sales or a change in customers’ buying habits.
   ”I’m almost afraid to say it,” she said, but “we have had an excellent July, August and September. I was waiting for the world to fall apart on us in the past couple of weeks and it hasn’t.”
   While she had no explanation for her continuing sales despite larger woes in the economy, she attributed some of her success to keeping prices “moderate” and some to her store’s wares, which consist of decorations and gifts. “I sometimes think when people can’t go anywhere, they want to do something and make their home look nicer,” she said.
   Ms. Lynch said she is stocking up on Christmas items this year in anticipation of people staying home, and knocking on wood that her business will weather the national decline.
   Flowerful Events, an event-organizing business in the Clarksburg section of Millstone, has also fought off a decline this season, said its Vice President Michael Heifez. While the overall volume of engagements is down by about a third, he said the clients who are disappearing are those with less money, leaving mostly high-end clients for what he described as a similarly high-end business.
   The clients who are left are spending less money on decorations, he said, and there have also been fewer guests at parties due to transportation costs. And while more expensive parties have kept gross sales from falling, Mr. Heifez said this year the client base has not increased the 20 to 25 percent it normally does.
   ”We’re not suffering the financial part of it, but the growth has stopped, and you can see that tremendously, because the phone has not been ringing that often as it used to,” he said. “It affects everybody; it’s a chain reaction.”
   While a few have a relatively positive outlook on how local businesses are being affected by the national economic crisis, most say things are far from ideal.
   ”Business is a lot slower in the area than people make it out to be,” Ms. Tafrow said.