Leaning against the countertop at the bar, Mai Thai owner Sommay Vorachak quietly sighed and looked around his empty restaurant on a recent Tuesday evening. Vorachak and other local business owners have had varied success in cushioning their establishments from the blow of the national economic downturn.
Vorachak said fewer customers have visited his establishment during the past six months. Scratching his temples, Vorachak said he was unsure whether business would improve in the winter.
"Normally, season-wise, we should have picked up right after the New Year," Vorachak said. "But we haven't because of a lot of worries about the economy and of people losing their jobs. It's tough in the restaurant business right now,"
Bryan Smith, owner of International DVD & Poster, said he noticed the economic shift when more people began to pay for their purchases with cash. The economic insecurity also seems to have affected consumers over the holiday, he said.
"During Christmas, we didn't get as many big box sets that people normally get," he said. "We sold a lot of smaller things. Where someone might buy a $30 or $50 box set of Paul Newman, people just bought the one [movie] of Paul Newman."
Vorachak said many local restaurants have seen food prices that normally increase incrementally suddenly skyrocket as a result of the economic recession and increasing energy costs, which make food production more expensive. Most of Vorachak's food prices have nearly doubled in the past year, he said.
"We used to buy a five-pound bag of rice for 15 to 17 dollars," he said. "Recently, it's gone up to 39 dollars."
Vorachak added that he was surprised that food has remained expensive as gas prices have decreased.
Alexandra Peters, president of Brambles of Hanover, a gift shop, said she had to reconsider her projected revenue for the fiscal year after a slow holiday season.
"I did notice a pattern back in October when people weren't shopping as much, so I just bought realistically for December, not expecting to meet what I did the year before," Peters said. "Even though the beginning of January has been pretty good, it has been a little quieter."
New businesses have felt the brunt of the economic uncertainty after opening their doors in an already unpredictable market, several business owners said. Russ and Yi Ping Weed, owners of Yi Ping's Asian Market, launched their business in March 2008. Less than a year later, they are unsure whether their business will continue to grow.
"It's kind of hard to tell because when we first opened, a lot of people flocked here to check it out," Russ Weed said. "Although we just had Chinese New Year, which was a great time for us, I think what really is going to be the tell-tale sign is what happens from now through the rest of the school year."
Some local business owners said high and increasing rents have made financial matters worse for those who are already struggling. The combination of high rent and an increasingly precarious financial situation has led to the closing of several local businesses, Roberts Flowers president Don Kantor said.
"I know one establishment left because their rent went up to $15,000 a month," Kantor said, adding that rents in Hanover are artificially high because of the town's small size.
Smith grinned when asked whether he believed that landlords institute unreasonable prices for their properties, including the property he rents for International DVD & Poster.
"Rents are just very high here," Smith said. "We can get the same space in a place in Back Bay, Boston or twice as much space in Montreal on a street that's busy year-round. We're just not that busy."
Several businesses, including the Church's Children Store, have been forced to close or sell their businesses after many decades because of high rents, according to Kantor and Smith.
Other local establishment owners say they have adapted to the current economic conditions. Murphy's on the Green owner Nigel Leeming said recent renovations to his restaurant and revisions to his business model have helped Murphy's become even more successful in the past few months.
"In this economic time, business people have to be innovative and creative in order to get in the minds of the public in their willingness to spend," Leeming said.
Eastman's Pharmacy owner Mark Knight said his business could weather the economic recession because of the high quality of its customer service.
Leming added that Hanover's isolated nature may ultimately benefit many town businesses.
"I've been through two economic downturns in the last 18 years and they've been minor compared to anything regional, state or national," Leeming said. "It's an affluent town, so people don't get as affected as dramatically in the country."
Dirt Cowboy Cafe owner Thomas Guerra said only one facet of his business has been hurt by the recession.
"Tips have suffered tremendously," he said. "We're getting about half as many tips as we used to."
The original version of this article incorrectly stated that Omer and Bob's bike and apparel shop had closed. In fact, the store moved to Lebanon, N.H.
