Local business observers say closures are part of town’s
economic picture
Morgan Hill – The California Shoe Inn in Vineyard Town Center announced it was going out of business, Marilyn’s Favorite Things on South Monterey Road closed earlier this year, as did Jumpin’ Juice and Java.
Though some Morgan Hill residents worry that there has been a spate of small business closings recently, business is cyclical, and the openings and closings of privately owned restaurants and retail stores has been a part of the Morgan Hill economic picture for years, according to local sources.
“Things always seem to work out, however; there’s usually someone waiting around to fill up that empty spot,” said Theresa Kiernan, executive director of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association. “People don’t need to worry, we just need to be ready to open our arms to welcome the new businesses that come into our business community.”
Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Dan Ehrler was out of town Monday and could not be reached for comment.
Gill Majko, a board-certified pedorthist who owns California Shoe Inn, said he is relocating his business to the Santa Cruz area because he was not getting the sales in Morgan Hill to support the the high inventory and overhead costs.
“I think in Santa Cruz, people are a little more into the health-minded aspect of these shoes, while here, people are a little more cost conscious,” he said. “I also didn’t have enough doctor and hospital referrals.”
Majko’s store carries Echos and Danskos, and he can recommend a shoe that will help a particular problem, but his shoes are fashionable as well as functional, he said.
“This just isn’t the right area for these shoes, although these are the same shoes that people go to Nordstrom’s or Macy’s to buy,” he said. “People just weren’t buying them locally.”
Longtime Morgan Hill business owner Brad Jones said that while a certain amount of small business turnover can be considered a fact of life, the business climate in Morgan Hill also plays a role in the health of local businesses.
“Retail in Morgan Hill is very, very hard because for a long time, it seemed Morgan Hill didn’t want retail, wanted anything but retail,” he said.
Gilroy’s build up of a shopping district, with the outlets and the outlying “big box” stores, such as Wal-Mart, has created a magnet, Jones said, that pulls retail to Gilroy.
“I believe our city, at the city staff level, doesn’t understand what it takes to incubate homegrown businesses,” he said. “There’s a trend in the U.S., an understanding about how locally-grown businesses can make a huge difference to the financial climate and even the social climate of a community, if the citizens and the city staff fosters that.”
Kiernan said there are also certain things small business owners can do before they even open their business to contribute to its success.
“One thing some people don’t consider enough is location, location, location,” she said. “They need to ask, am I putting myself in the very best position, in terms of a site, to be prosperous. They also need to consider if the business is something the community would support. They need to do that research, see who they will be competing with, those kinds of questions. They also need to consider if they can support the community they are in. In other words, if they will be located in the downtown versus in a commercial complex or strip mall, will the business be able to survive street closings for community events and will the amount of parking support the event.”
Even with carefully planned, well-thought out site selection, research and community support, Kiernan added, there will still be some businesses – retail, restaurant or service-oriented – that go out of business.
“There are any number of other reasons why someone might decide to close their business,” she said.
Personal situations, medical reasons, a desire for a career change and a move to another area are just a few reasons that have nothing to do with the health of the business itself, she said.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at md****@*************es.com.
