Mar 23, 2008

Village stores strugglingBy Nicole LeeDemocratandChronicle.com

By 2010, the Fairport village location of Skip’s Meat Market, a family owned chain offering 25 varieties of sausage and chicken and other meats, may become an empty storefront.

Owner Donna Pink doesn’t plan to renew her lease when it expires in two years if business doesn’t pick up. Her shop sits next to the former location of Karen’s Crafts, a 15,000-square-foot building that has been empty for 18 months.

Sales are typically strong in Fairport during spring and summer, bolstered by revenue from boaters traveling the Erie Canal. But the canal isn’t open year-round, and this winter has brought struggles for some merchants amid a slowing economy.

Business dwindled so much that Pink decided to close on Mondays and Tuesdays. Her regular customers are loyal, she said. There just aren’t enough of them.

Officials from Pittsford, Brockport, Honeoye Falls and other villages throughout the region constantly focus on keeping their Main Streets economically viable. The trick isn’t trying to compete with shopping malls or big box national chain stores, they said, but rather it’s offering a retail mix that includes a standard grocery store and specialty boutiques.

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