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Karen Bentley, owner of Wireless Giant in downtown Dexter, says "I think it's still a very viable market."
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From local coffee shop chatter to speeches from presidential hopefuls, everyone's talking about the economy and so far the discussion hasn't been good. Businesses are closing and jobs are leaving Michigan, but in Chelsea and Dexter, some new small business owners have recently opened up shop and managed to buck the national trend toward economic downturn.
One of those business owners is Karen Bentley, a realtor turned cell phone aficionado, who took over Dexter Wireless Giant on July 1. Bentley, whose original goal was to sell the business, said she purchased the phone franchise because it was an opportunity too good to pass up. So good, in fact, she put her real estate license in escrow and went to work at her store full time.
Bentley said the necessity of cell phones meant the lagging economy didn't give her a cause for concern.
"I think it's still a very viable market," Bentley said. "My experience has been that when people are trying to cut their costs, they're actually coming in and purchasing a cell phone and just getting rid of their home service."
So far, Bentley said her biggest challenge hasn't been managing her 60-hour workweek or making enough sales. Her biggest challenge is keeping up with new phones that are constantly hitting the market.
And with a steady stream of people who want to keep up with ever-changing technology, Bentley said her customers are willing to pay top dollar for the fastest and sleekest in cell phone technology - even if some analysts are saying that the economy is on the verge of a recession.
But with her closest competition almost 20 minutes away, Bentley said she's benefited from being the only game in town when it comes to cell phones - an advantage she admitted has probably protected her from the economic realities faced by other small operations.
For Edna Middleton, the owner of Rose Cottage, a home dÈcor and gift shop in downtown Dexter, being surrounded by other businesses isn't a concern.
In fact, Middleton, who opened up in April, said her location nestled between other small business owners has actually helped drum up business
Situated next to the Dexter Pub and just down the street from the Lighthouse CafÈ, Middleton said regular restaurant crowds usually mean a regular flow of foot traffic passes through her store, too.
Despite an expected crowd of browsers, though, her sales haven't been quite as successful as she'd hoped.
"Business could be better, but I'm still making enough to pay my bills and buy more inventory," Middleton said.
Middleton bought her business and her first round of merchandise from the owner of the Purple Ribbon, a gift shop on Main Street in downtown Dexter that closed earlier this year.
"I saw the Purple Ribbon and I just knew that was exactly thing that I wanted to do," Middleton said. "So it was just a perfect fit for me and I wanted a turn-key business, so it was really a right place at the right time kind of thing"
Most recently, she's been in contact with local woodworkers to try and incorporate more locally made items into her collection of mostly shabby chic merchandise.
And with prices that range from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars, the Rose Cottage owner said the selection in her store means there's something for everyone.
Even with that kind of selection, though, Middleton said most of her customers are either young professionals or more established local residents, both groups who she said can afford to keep buying in the midst of a national spending slowdown.
But while Middleton and Bentley are both first-time business owners, Eladio Pacheco, the owner of Las Fluentes, a restaurant that has been serving up authentic Mexican fare since July, running a small business isn't something new.
Pacheco owns and operates eight other Mexican restaurants in North Carolina and Virginia that have been in business since 1993.
He decided to open up for business in Chelsea after a friend told him there were no other eateries in the area that served the kind of dishes he was cooking up in his restaurants.
And with a year and a half delay on construction and an economy that means fewer people are splurging to go out to dinner than before, Pacheco said the lack of local competition is the only reason he still decided to open for business.
"When you open up a restaurant and there's not that much competition, it's always a good time," Pacheco said.
But while competition in the restaurant business is fierce, local artist and Daisy Lake Art Gallery owner Victoria Schon, said that when it comes to competitors, "the more the merrier."
Schon said the changing landscape of downtown Dexter, with three new restaurants open for business, had more to do with her decision to open at the end of 2007, than did the economic forecast.
"It brought in a lot more people walking downtown in the evening and so it just thought it was the perfect time," Schon said. "I had been considering an art gallery and wanting to have a bigger art presence in Dexter, so I decided to go for it last November."
Shortly after she opened, the Side Door Gallery and Artistica, both in downtown Dexter, followed suit.
Schon said she and the other business owners have been working together to develop their downtown art businesses.
She added that summer road construction, more than the economy, is what affected her business.
"The bridge traffic has affected the gallery more than anything I think," Schon said. "And I think we've had less traffic because of that."
Regardless of her profit margins, though, Schon said she doesn't have plans to abandon her downtown business anytime soon.
"I'm going to be here no matter what," Schon said. "I'm supporting the art gallery myself and my main objective is to create a larger art presence in Dexter and to provide space for artists."
With price tags that range from $60 to $2,000, Schon did admit that the economy might mean fewer people are buying original works of art these days.
But she quickly added that a customer's personal attachment to the piece, more than their checkbook, is the true measure of what they'll spend.
"You often get people who are familiar with an artist or they just really love the work and it's a very personal experience," Schon said. "People usually have an emotional response to a piece of fine art and that's the strongest indicator of whether or not they'll buy"
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