New year sees openings, closings on Main St.

Author: Amanda Cormier

This holiday season, Middlebury shoppers, like many American consumers nationwide, witnessed the repercussions stemming from the deceivingly abstract crises on Wall Street. But there is reason to believe the casualties were less severe for local businesses, especially in comparison to their counterparts and competitors in other states.

Indeed, the changing face of Middlebury's most prominent bloc of businesses - which includes the closing of a store, the opening of a restaurant and a change in ownership of a flagship establishment - is not just a another product of the nationwide economic crisis.

"Generally, the businesses said things weren't as bad as expected this holiday season," said Gail Freidin, executive director of the Better Middlebury Partnership. "That's not a terribly positive statement in light of the national and world economy, but it's pretty darn good. Although December business was down, the year finished either at or about even, possibly up or down 1 or 2 percent."

The holidays provide downtown stores with the majority of yearly income, with the off-season supplemented by college parents, alumni and tourists. High rent on Main Street can make it difficult for stores to withstand the months of May through October. For this reason, Woody Jackson, artist and owner of Holy Cow, Inc., moved his studio out of its prominent Main Street location in late October. Now, it is occupied by his wife's business, Ingrid Jackson Real Estate.

"The stores that can survive [on Main Street] are the ones who can generate better income, like professional service industries," Woody said. "For Ingrid, it's the perfect location. It gets a lot of foot traffic."

The high rent of a Main Street location makes it difficult for businesses on the market to find buyers. Glass Bead Game, a women's apparel store on the College end of Main Street, announced its closing after time on the market yielded no buyers. "The fact that Glass Bead Game will close doesn't mean there won't be a business there - there may be a little shuffling going on," Freidin said. "Sometimes there is a flurry of that, and other years there is not much change. I would say there hasn't been a lot of change lately."

The relative stability of business in town - despite the usual difficulty of maintaining a Main Street retail location - can be partly attributed to Middlebury's focus on the local economy. According to Freidin, customers were more cautious with their money this season.

"I do think that consumers demonstrated stronger loyalty to local businesses rather than just going and spending money anywhere."

Real estate shifts have also expressed increased desire to keep Main Street money local. Ben Franklin, Main Street's flagship general store, was recently sold to a local family that plans to retain its identity as a general merchandise store. Bonnie Gridley, owner of RE/MAX Champlain Valley Properties, said the sellers expressed a desire that the business stay in local hands.

The strength of the local economy was also the focus of a new restaurant opening on Main Street in the spring. The Farmer's Diner, a diner in Quechee that serves primarily locally-grown food, will open a new branch in late spring in a major downtown space. Rumors of the diner occupying the space currently held by Tully and Marie's could not be confirmed or denied by the diner's owner, Tod Murphy.

In December, Murphy held a community dinner regarding the restaurant's role in town to widespread support.

"I asked people in the community for references [for local suppliers]," Murphy said. "Eggs seem to be the big issue. There are not enough local eggs. Lots of people were excited to hear that a family-priced restaurant that is so locally oriented is coming to town. We spend about 73 cents of every dollar within 50-70 miles of the restaurant."

Murphy said he hopes that The Farmer's Diner can have a high degree of involvement with the community and College organizations. The Diner has developed several new menu items to appeal to student budgets, such as a $5 breakfast.

"We think that having the College nearby is going to be great, and we expect our mission statement to appeal to a lot of Middlebury students," Murphy said. "A lot of the student body's worldviews on local economies seem to be similar to those in Addison County."