Merchants Say October Sales Were Way Down

With Hurricane Sandy cutting power to many shops for days, it shouldn’t really come as surprise that business was down in October. But even before Sandy, after a busy summer season business in much of town was slow. Painfully so.

“It’s bad, we’re not seeing the traffic,” Shanna Geary owner of the Yellow House said.

Before Hurricane Sandy hit the area, Geary said it had been a horrible October, and she’s wasn’t the only business owner worried.

Business owners in Mystic and Pawcatuck reported much of the same. There just didn’t seem to be as many people walking around and even less willing to buy.

At Mel’s Downtown Creamery in Pawcatuck owner Melanie Goggin said the weekends had been good, but the weekdays a little slow. Mel’s Downtown Creamery closed for several days due to Hurricane Sandy, and had to throw out a lot of product due to lack of power.

Since Mel’s Downtown Creamery just opened in March Goggin didn’t have much to compare her October sales too, but said several other merchants told her, even before Sandy, October was an off month.

Pam Cullis owner of Zia’s in the borough said it was one the worst seasons she’s had in six years.

“Everyone has their own theories,” Pam Cullis at Zia’s in the borough said, adding that the poor weather hadn’t helped.

Other business owners in both Mystic and the borough said they thought the slow October might have had something to do with the election and that in election years people wait to buy nonessential items.

According to an published by the Associated Press, that’s likely: “Analysts say that shoppers typically pull back in the week before a presidential election.”

Stonington resident Wendy Bury things the slow sales might have something to do with more local politics though.

“In my opinion, during the past five years, the borough commissions and boards have become increasingly unfriendly towards businesses and stymied the business community,” Bury said. “The desire for control over development and/or intensification of the successful businesses has, unfortunately, created a much more restrictive environment for current and future businesses. Shortsighted actions (reactions) will likely have long-term unintended consequences in the borough's ability to attract new businesses, maintain current businesses, and grow small businesses.”

Theresa’s in the borough had such a bad summer and after never fully recovering from losses due to Tropical Storm Irene closed for good in October.

With clean up from Hurricane Sandy continuing, Bank Square Books in downtown Mystic for instance still hasn’t reopened, most are hoping October wasn’t a forecast for the holiday shopping season.