Stores struggle through winter
SANDPOINT - It's no secret that the nation's economy has slipped into something larger and more pronounced than a slump or downturn, and many area businesses are struggling just to keep their doors open.
According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the U.S. has been in a recession since December 2007 and, like many other communities in Idaho, Bonner County's businesses are feeling the economic pressures associated with a recession.
The county's entrepreneurial spirit has remained strong, as evidenced by a recent explosion of new businesses, but many existing businesses are feeling the pinch.
The times are especially difficult for businesses that opened during the recession and were unable to establish solid roots in the community, said several business owners.
Pradeep Shrestha, owner of Where the Wind Blows in the Cedar Street Bridge Market, said his home decor and gift business has been struggling for months.
"It's been very, very slow," Shrestha said of his less than two-year-old business. "Summer wasn't that good either, definitely not as good as last year."
Shrestha hopes to navigate the dire times and stay open by discounting merchandise and offering gift cards with purchases, but some business owners are throwing in the towel.
Open since May, downtown Sandpoint's Curvy Clothing became the latest casualty of the recession and will close its doors in January.
Owner Anita Hoag said customer traffic has all but disappeared since the end of summer and the business can no longer afford to stay open.
"This summer we did fairly well. I was really pleased, but starting in October it has just gotten really slow," Hoag said. "I understand (why sales have slowed). People just aren't spending money on things that aren't necessary at the moment."
Hoag said she will take a few months to regroup, but hopes to reopen the business in the summer if she feels the local economy is strong enough to support it.
The disheartening news is not confined to downtown Sandpoint, either.
As a tenant in the Bonner Mall, Carolyn Abbott hoped her store, Cox Custom Leather and Bead, would benefit from the mall's added foot traffic, but she is now fighting just to stay afloat.
"Well, we're hanging in there, but that's about all I can say right now," Abbott said. "I'm going to try (to stay in business). I don't know how far I'll get, but I'm going to try."
Like many other business owners, Matt Splat said business at his skateboard and snowboard shop, Dethbox Board Supply, was good during the summer season but dropped off precipitously this fall.
Splat blamed much of Dethbox's troubles on the general economic state, but said he is also fighting to let locals know that he sells more than just skateboards.
"I'm trying to get the word out that we're more than just a skateboard shop without breaking my bank, which I've already kind of done," Splat said. "My bank's been hurting lately."
Splat, who also sells a multitude of winter products like snowboards and clothing, said if people were aware of Dethbox's inventory, business would pick up.
Regional labor economist with the Idaho Department of Labor, Kathryn Tacke, said difficult economic times will most likely continue in Bonner County for the foreseeable future.
"This is going to be a hard period. I wish there was there were a lot of really hopeful signs out there, but there just aren't," Tacke said earlier this month.