The month of December has typically been a good month for area businesses, but for Joe D’Anna of Papa Bella’s, last month was a great one.
‘Kids home from school, families together, people out Christmas shopping’business has been great,? said D’Anna, located at 425 Mill St., Ortonville. ‘Despite the tough economy, people are still spending money, just differently. If you got only $20 to take your family out to dinner, where can you go? They come here. Out the door with two pizzas for $18.?
D’Anna’s reflections on the Christmas season and the change in buying habits locally are found in other area businesses.
While the sluggish economy has impacted many, local businesses are reporting sales increases’just in some new areas.
Sporting goods sales at Brown’s Do-it Center, 7821 S. State Road were down 15 percent, but owner Mark Brownrigg said hardware sales were about even or slightly better than last year. He believes customers are doing more of their own home repairs rather than hiring someone else. He noted that rock salt, snow shovels and sled sales were also up, due to the weather.
‘The new bow sales for Christmas were down’customers weren’t buying a lot of high-ticket items because of the economy,? said Brownrigg. ‘Previous years, we could see the economy dropping, but sales were level. Typically during the holidays, they still buy big ticket items, but this year they did not.?
At Lucy’s Pet Supplies & Feeds, 8159 S. State Road, owner Angela Grogan estimated that sales were down 20 percent from last year. She believes part of the decrease is because of a bait ban, affecting her sales of whole and cracked corn, as well as salt licks.
While horse feed and dog and cat food sales are steady, she also noticed a change in customers? purchasing habits.
‘If they bought big bags before, they now buy the smaller bags because that’s as far as their paycheck’s going to stretch,? Grogan said. ‘People have also switched from premium foods for their pet to less expensive food.?
The switch by customers to less expensive food is happening at the grocery store, too.
Joe Dore, manager of Bueche’s Food World, 400 Ortonville Road, did not have specific numbers, but said sales are down or flat from the same time last year.
‘People are watching their budgets and buying what is on sale,? Dore said. ‘We’ve noticed they are buying cheaper, quicker meals, such as hot dogs. They are also buying generic or store brands more than name brands, and if people don’t need it, they don’t buy it. They’re not buying luxury items, like ice cream, they’re getting by with main meals.?
Even the post office, which typically experiences a high volume of mailing at Christmas, particularly with trends toward online ordering of gifts, has experienced a decrease in sales.
‘Everything is down a little,? said Ron Bergum, officer in charge at the Ortonville Post Office. ‘Not tragically down, but down from past years. Usually, the bad time of year is after Christmas, in January. My opinion is people do Christmas no matter what, but after, they buckle down and wait for their taxes.?
Bergum expects that by the middle of this year, the economy will improve and people will do more business.
Brownrigg hopes for the same.
‘I think this next year holds great promise and it will start to turn around,? he said. ‘It might take two or three years to get back to where we were at, but I think it will start turning this year.?
Grogan agreed.
‘I’m hoping we have hit bottom and things start to creep up from here, instead of going down anymore,? she said. ‘Hopefully things will improve with a new administration in the White House. We can only hope.?