Successful year for business owners
Supply chain issues no problem for Frankfort
While supply chain issues continue to stymie large retail outlets, especially in gear that requires computer components, Frankfort store owners and the chamber say they’re not have any issues keeping things in stock.
In fact, as the local businesses geared up for Small Business Saturday — the day after Black Friday intended to celebrate local shopping — owners said this year was good and certainly better than last year.
Debbie Bell, the owner of Briosa Bouqtiue in the Trolley Barn in downtown Frankfort, said she thinks the limited availability at larger chains could be good for businesses.
“I think it is helpful,” Bell said. “When I go to bigger department stores they don’t have as much as they regularly would.”
Bell stocks mostly women’s wear and other fashion accessories, and because it’s not a big chain she doesn’t rely on massive shipments for inventory. Bell also said a lot of her customers started shopping earlier, meaning she can restock before the final weeks before Christmas.
“Over the past couple of months, it’s been picking up and people have been shopping sooner,” she said.
Much of the supply chain blockage is held up in California, where merchandise shipped from Asia collects at the ports. However, the majority of Frankfort’s small businesses are boutiques, featuring clothing or collectibles, not so much electronics as might be in a big box store.
That’s the case at This and That, a gift boutique in downtown Frankfort. Owner Nancy Cartolano said she’s not been at all affected by the port issues.
“We carry as much made in the USA merchandise as we can,” Cartolano said.
She said one advantage is that she sells a bit of everything. In short, she can stock any sort of gifts and collectibles.
“We are called This and That, and that’s pretty much what we sell, a little bit of this and that,” she said.
“It may take another few days or a week to gets something in, but we’ve not had any real issue getting things here.”
Cartolano said so far, things have been good.
“I’m seeing good business, yeah, people are eager to be out and about,” she said. “We’ve had good business, considering.”
Cartolano said that local residents have been loyal to area businesses.
“I think people have really supported small businesses,” Cartolano said. “Downtown Frankfort businesses have done quite well.”
For that matter, compared to last year, it’s been a blockbuster sales year, Bell agreed.
“We were closed for three months last year and we had to change our whole buying last year because we had to cancel orders,” she said.
This year, Bell said she expects jewelry to be popular among the Christmas crowd.
“Our biggest thing is blessing bracelets, which are sterling silver with stones,” she said. “Those are very popular along with the Ginger Snaps jewelry line.”
Kris Pasquini, the executive director of the Frankfort Chamber of Commerce, said Bell’s story isn’t unique. Small businesses have been doing well.
“They’ve been doing regular events to encourage people to come on down and they seem to be very popular,” Pasquini said.
On Saturday, Briosa and other retailers offered a series of sales from 8 a.m. until
noon. Bell said she expects the big sellers this year to be accessories.
Pasquini said she’s not heard of any shortages from her membership and many businesses will remain open up until the very end of the Christmas season. Briosa, for instance, will remain open until Christmas Eve, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Besides the Small Business Saturday event, she said the chamber is hosting another event, Midnight Madness, from 6 p.m. to midnight on Dec. 10.
“We’ve got 37 stores participating not just downtown but in the outlying areas as well,” Pasquini said. “We love to see the streets filled downtown and were looking forward to a really good season.”