Merchants work to overcome winter’s chill

While schools close and some people stay home when it snows, businesses in the Five Towns try to keep their stores open and their customers happy despite the often frigid, usually dreary winter weather.
Several local businesses have had to deal with challenging issues brought on by the weather — mostly, whether and when to open after heavy overnight snows, how late to stay open when the snow hits during the day, and how those decisions might affect sales.
At Tiptoe Boutique, on Spruce Street in Cedarhurst, owner Chaya Moller said that the obvious question in any business owner’s mind on snowy days is whether it is more expensive to keep the store open or closed. “The weather conditions, rain or snow, always affect business, especially in the Five Towns, where people tend to park and then … walk from shop to shop,” she said. “We had to close early one day due to snowy conditions, and closed completely another [day] for safety issues. In general, in this area, where a lot of the shopping involves walking the avenue, it makes more sense to close up shop early or not [open] at all in really bad snowstorms. After paying employees and general utility bills, one must weigh the weather versus traffic to make a proper decision.”
Music Hub owner Michael Dworetsky explained that half of his revenue comes from music lessons, and half from the sale, repair and tuning of instruments — everything from guitars to drums — at his Cedarhurst shop on Willow Avenue. He lives in Queens, he said, but is fortunate to have a reliable car to make the drive to and from the Five Towns.
“People still called to sign up for lessons, even on the days we were closed,” Dworetsky said. “As a result, we had to reschedule lessons so people could still get them in. About 70 percent of our lessons are children taking them, and the remaining 30 percent are adults. We were extra busy on the days immediately following a storm because those who weren’t able to come for their lessons needed to come in as soon as we opened back up again.”