Inn on the Blues Chef Taylor Miller puts the final touches on the hors d'oeuvres prepared for the Greater York Chamber of Commerce Ice Breaker, held Jan. 30 at the Museums of Old York's new Remick Barn in York Village.
Photo by Tori Rasche
Local diners enjoy a warm and friendly lunch at the Union Bluff Pub in York Beach.
Photo by Tori Rasche
Rose Habas works on packaging a tasty confection at Ogunquit's Harbor Candy Shop.
Photo by Jessey Taylor
From the inside looking out at Berger's Bike Shop in York Village.
Photo by Tori Rasche
YORK AND OGUNQUIT - Surviving the winter months in a small, and often times forgotten, seaside town isn't easy for local business owners.
So why do some businesses continue their services while others do not? What if every business in York and Ogunquit were closed for the season? Can you imagine your local town without any businesses that were willing to ride out the winter waves?
If a passerby were to glance through the windows at Bessie's Restaurant in Ogunquit on a Saturday morning, they would be greeted by dozens of faces peering curiously back through the glass. On a Tuesday afternoon, that same passerby would more than likely find only their own reflection staring back at them as they drifted past a nearly empty restaurant.
"Sometimes during the week, we ask ourselves why we are even open," said restaurant owner Jim Oliver.
According to Oliver, despite the dramatic drop in tourism during the winter months, there are more businesses staying open now year round than there were five years ago.
"People are seeing that staying open through the winter can be done, so more and more businesses are trying it," said Oliver.
Brent Merritt from the Union Bluff in York Beach agrees with Oliver on this point. Merritt says that winter business in York is improving because more properties are choosing to stay open longer. According to Merritt, there were more people at York Beach this past New Year's Eve than there have ever been before because other businesses besides the Union Bluff were open.
"Before it used to cost us to stay open throughout the winter, now we just about break even," said Merritt.
However, not every business owner in York believes that winters are getting easier to survive.
Scott Berger from Berger's Bike Shop in York Village said this was the first winter in 25 years that he had to switch to part-time hours. Berger blames the rising cost of fuel and the early winter storms for having to close the shop down on Sundays and Mondays this year. Bike sales aren't very popular when snow has covered the ground for the last two months, said Berger.
So with the extra cost of keeping the shop open and the thought of biking so far from people's minds, why does Berger hang tough through the winter months?
"Winter is definitely the red zone for us," said Berger. "But I couldn't just sit around and do nothing. Besides, the coffee shop I have here keeps people coming in the door and reminds them that I am still here."
The Harbor Candy Shop in Ogunquit is another business that struggles throughout the winter months. The store, which is typically open and packed with customers as late as 11 p.m. in the summer, closes its doors no later than 5 p.m. in the winter months. It's mostly the repeat customers and mail orders that keep the shop going through the winter, said store owner Jean Foss.
Foss is another believer that winter business is growing stronger in Ogunquit. According to Foss, there is more weekend traffic than there has ever been in the 25 years she has owned the business. However, that doesn't mean that she doesn't still sometimes "go into the summer with a little bit of debt."
David Hutchins from Blacksmith Mall Antiques in Ogunquit closed his store for two months last year because he wasn't sure if the money he would have received from renting space to dealers would have covered the cost of staying open. This year, however, he has decided to make a go of it either way.
"For us, it makes more sense to stay open," said Hutchins, "for now anyways," he added with a tentative chuckle.
Then there are some businesses that don't have enough year-round support to sustain even part-time hours throughout the duration of winter. Joe Lipton of Inn on the Blues in York Beach would love to be able to stay open all year long. However, the local economy just isn't strong enough to support every business year round, said Lipton.
Although Lipton is one of the many business owners that choose to close for the slow season, that doesn't mean that he wouldn't like to be able to "play the game" all year round. Lipton says that he feels there is a new mindset sweeping through the year-round residents in York that may just allow businesses like his to stay open all year in the future.
"More and more locals are starting to come down to appreciate the gem that is right in their own back yards," said Lipton. "When visitors come and tell them how lucky they are to live here all year, they start to look at the ocean again and appreciate what they have here."
It isn't just the business owners that struggle through the winter months, either. The employees of these businesses struggle right along with them. When the hours of operation are cut, so are the payrolls. Business owners are often sympathetic to the needs of their employees and make every effort to soften the blow of lost wages, even if it comes out of their own pockets.
At Bessie's, the waitstaff is compensated when there is a significant loss of tips with "a little something extra" in their paychecks, said Oliver. Other businesses, like Harbor Candy and Inn on the Blues, take advantage of the slow season and put their employees to work on home improvement projects such as heavy cleaning or painting.
"Our employees have just as many expenses now as they do in July," explained Foss. "So we try to make use of them where ever possible."
From the time the doors close at Inn on the Blues on New Year's Day to when they reopen in April, Lipton is looking for ways to "keep his key players in the game." Behind those closed doors, workers busy themselves with heavy cleaning, renovation projects and brainstorming gourmet ideas for a new menu.
"People see the doors are closed and they think nobody is doing anything, but that's when we're working harder than ever, making preparations for the upcoming season," said Lipton. "When that season does come, we're just playing the game."
During the peak summer season, Berger's Bike Shop has four employees on the payroll. From the end of December to the beginning of April, Berger runs the store himself. Some of those employees return to school in the winter and the others fend for themselves by scraping up odd jobs here and there until bike season rolls back around, said Berger.
Support for these businesses and their staff is needed from more than just local consumers. It is also needed from the towns and their local chambers of commerce. Most businesses agree that the chambers in York and Ogunquit do an outstanding job at bringing people into town and directing them to the businesses that are open. On the other hand, not everyone feels that the town ordinances are equally sensitive to their needs in regard to advertising the fact that they are open for business.
Oliver said the Ogunquit Chamber of Commerce has been very supportive in letting the few people that are traveling into Ogunquit know which businesses are still open. In a town that doesn't allow open flags or lit open signs to be displayed at any business, this is a much welcomed form of advertisement.
"If I put out an open flag, I would be reported to the code enforcement officer," explained Oliver.
Hutchins takes a more reserved attitude toward the town ordinance that bans any sort of open flags in Ogunquit. While Hutchins feels Blacksmith Mall and other businesses could benefit from the use of open flags, he politely resigns to respect the community's wishes in regard to the ordinance and has no intention to attempt to sway their opinion.
"You have to pick your battles and you can't fight city hall," said Hutchins.
The town of York has recently been enforcing an old ordinance that prevents businesses from displaying certain open flags, banners and display easels. For a small shop like Berger's, this is just one more challenge to add to the list.
"It makes it hard when you can't put anything out to advertise," said Berger. "This town is very anti-business. It would be nice if the town were a little more supportive."
Merritt agrees that open flags would help businesses in York to survive the winter months. The absence of open flags makes it harder for people that are from out of town to determine which businesses are open, said Merritt.
"I think open flags show sign of some sort of life," said Merritt. "I would like to see the town do away with the ordinance that bans them."
Indeed, there are many challenges for every business within a small seaside town to overcome. Whether they succeed or fail to keep their heads above the water doesn't appear to be the deciding factor in keeping their doors open or closed; it comes down to something more valuable than money, something more tangible than open flags. It is something that lies at the heart of every New Englander. It is endurance and the will to prevail, no matter what challenges winter presents.
