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NEW CANAAN, Conn. The recession is still hitting Fairfield County businesses hard, and nearly half dont expect to be profitable this year, according to a new survey released Tuesday.
Mark Gust, manager at Family Britches on Elm Street, was not too surprised by the survey. Gust said customers are more careful with their money because of uncertainty in the financial and political environments. People are not willing to spend their money with the stock market going up and down, he said.
Family Britches has added more affordable clothing to its racks to entice customers. Weve filled the store with product that has value for the customer, he said. People are not spending $359 for a shirt anymore.
Vicki Beltz, manager of Stepping Stones, says people are holding off on making home décor changes. Profits are not half of what they were four or five years ago, Beltz said, though noting that its been slower in its locations in Norwalk and Westport. Everybody is cautious and spending less.
As the regions economy slowed, just slightly more than 50 percent of county businesses are counting on being profitable, according to the survey. The 2011 Fairfield County Business Survey, published by the Connecticut Business & Industry Association and the Stamford Chamber of Commerce, found that just 53 percent of those surveyed expected to turn a profit in 2011.
That is 7 percentage points less than in 2010, according to the survey. Those figures are dismal when compared with the 84 percent of the regions businesses that were profitable in 2007, before the recession hit, business leaders say.
Business group leaders from one end of the county to the other say they are not surprised with the surveys bleak results, but also say they see signs that an economic recovery is on the way though slowly.
We are in a recession, and you can see from the survey charts that, reflecting national trends, profitability has been negatively impacted, said Joseph McGee, vice president of the Fairfield County Business Council in Stamford. Has this recession damaged profitability? Absolutely, said McGee. Has it impacted jobs? Of course. But on the other hand were seeing growth, too, as businesses are moving into the area and there has been job growth in individual companies, even though we are way below jobs compared to five years ago.
Paul S. Timpanelli, president and chief executive officer of the Bridgeport Regional Business Council, agreed that while recovery is slow, he is also seeing positive signs.
These (survey results) dont come as any surprise, we have been mired in a very severe recession and nearly reached bottom when we were close to a depression in 2008, said Timpanelli. Its going to take a long time to recover. But, he said, I do see things starting to trend the other way. For example, I can name 25 businesses that have hired more people within the past year. Whats important as we move forward is that businesses improve their product, go global and keep getting leaner.
The numbers cause some worry for Sonny Yi, owner of Swirl frozen yogurt, which has been open on Cherry Street since late May. Yi said the summer was good with high school kids and students home from college looking to cool off. Its too soon to tell what will profits will be for the rest of the year.
Its scary. We know the economy is still tough, Yi said. Hopefully well be in that 53 percent of profitable businesses.
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