January Prosperous for Most Seymour Businesses

By Brooke Stevenson
brooke@seymourherald.com
    Since the beginning of the New Year several Seymour businesses have been thriving.
   Many owners and managers attribute this to an upswing in the economy, and are hopeful for the rest of the year.
    Connie Emmons, owner of Connie’s Kitchen, said that business has been doing really well so far in 2010.
    “We had to close down for a week because I was in Michigan,” she said. “But when we reopened people packed in.
    “It made me feel really good.”
    Back in November Emmons said business was about the same as the year before, and business was good. She added that the upward trend has continued into the New Year.
   “It has been a steady climb,” she said. “The weekends are pretty crazy.
   “It is a good sign.”
   Sevier Pawn and Loan of Seymour has also been thriving so far in 2010.
   “We have been good on the pawn side and we have been good on the sales side also,” said manager Mitzi Brown. “We have had an increase this year over last year.”
   December was a busy month as well, said Brown, because a lot of residents came in to do Christmas shopping.
   “We never really saw a big decrease, but it is an improvement from this time last year already,” she said.
   Back in November the shop was seeing more pawns than sales because of the economy and that has changed over the past two months.
   “I think the economy is picking back up because we are doing really well in the sales side of it,” she said. “Last year it may have been more of the pawn, but this year is really thriving with sales.”
   Business at the Way Oma Motel has also been steady in 2010.
   An employee, who asked not to be named, said that business always stays about the same and the motel hasn’t really been affected by the economy.
    Roughly the same group of people visits the motel around the same times every year and on average the motel runs at about 80 percent capacity.
    “The economic climate really hasn’t affected our business,” said owner Ernest Ford in November.
   Not all Seymour businesses are dodging the down economy’s blow however.
   Downtown Autobody of Seymour manager Monte Jones said that business has been slow for even this time of year.
   “We are up a little bit from November, but not anywhere near to where we should be,” Jones said.
   He believes the combination of the down economy and the fact that business for auto shops is normally down for this time of year is to blame for slow business.
   “After the holidays everybody is trying to build their bank accounts back up from where they struggled through the holidays,” he said.
   In November Jones said that business at the shop had significantly slowed down, but expected it to pick up after the holidays.
   “This time of year business is slow, but not typically this slow,” he said. “By January we are normally back up to where it was, but not this year.
   “Everyone I have talked to in this business is still struggling. We will probably be a month late in picking up this year.”