Feature Article February 20, 2001
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Some area businesses dont have the mid-winter bluesby David BrisonLast week we reported that local realtors werent experiencing their expected mid-winter slump, but instead seemed to be in the midst of an unprecedented boom period.
This prompted us to look further and ask other businesses how they were doing this winter, and also during the last year.
My first stop was at the Pharmacy in Sharbot Lake an obvious choice since they are expanding their available store space, and in so doing creating a quieter space in the store for dispensing drugs and talking to Jocelyn about medications.
Co-owner Nick Whalen says that they havent experienced a mid-winter slump since their early days in Sharbot Lake. Further, their sales have continued to grow over the ten years they have been in Sharbot Lake. We havent yet reached the expected plateau where our sales level off, says Nick.
Their continued growth in sales is undoubtedly fed by the increase in population in the area, in particular, the growth in the senior population a group with high levels of medications.
Steve Tarasick, the owner of Tarasick Carpentry and Cabinets, is doing the renovation for the Pharmacy. Steve had some interesting things to say not only about his own business but the local economy in general. In regard to his own business, We now have five housing starts for the coming year. They arent small ones either -- we will be busy all winter and into the next year. Steve attributes this to the large number of people who are moving into the area. He went on to say, I think that we dont have the real boom times that urban areas often go through, but Ive found that we also dont go through the prolonged slumps in the economy that the urban economy experiences.
Bill Bush of the Sharbot Lake Service Centre was also asked about his business (while I was getting my brakes fixed). Bill said that last summer was slow for him compared to other summers. However it picked up in the fall and continued up to now. There are a lot of people on the road, and our phone calls for general repair calls are definitely up, Bill says. (Which prompted me to remember to contact our local towing companies.)
A negative note came from Jessie Lavery of the James General Store in Plevna. Much of her winter business comes from snowmobilers and ice fishing. The lack of snow and the open lakes have cut down on these activities, and her winter business is down.
However, two other businesses in the north, Hooks and the Interior Zone say that their winter business are up. Wendy Thompson of Interior Zone reports that she has a steady stream of people interested in home decoration it has been good over the year and hasnt let up over the winter.
So far, from our little informal survey of local businesses, it would seem that the population growth in the area is benefiting local businesses. In particular, those businesses that are set up to provide services for the expanding senior population, like the pharmacy, are in boom times.
Could it be that the way to avoid the vaunted mid-winter slump is not solely through year-round tourism, but by taking advantage of the population growth in the area? We will be asking that question of businesses and area residents. If you have opinions, let us know.
In the meantime, we at The News will have had two 16-page issues (which depend on advertising revenues) in January and February largely because area businesses have taken to the re-introduction of our monthly business directory (see next issue). Of note is that fact that they made that advertising decision in mid-winter, when they are expected to be hunkering down and trying to cut expenses.
