There's a business fight brewing, in Levittown and throughout Nassau County. But according to Gary Hudes, the artillery isn't just dollars and cents. It's also business sense.
Hudes, a Levittown resident who is also head of the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce, says mom-and-pop stores have to bring their merchandising skills to another level if they're to contend against "big-box," discount-oriented merchants.
"In today's market," Hudes told the Trib on Monday, "the small-business owner must put in long hours, and really think through his business plan. That includes knowing his niche and working his niche."
Hudes' has spent much of the last decade working on behalf of the mom-and-pop merchant. It started in nearby Bellmore, where he owns Gennaro Jewelers and is co-president of the Chamber of Commerce of the Bellmores. It became countywide with his involvement in the countywide council of chambers, which represents 50 merchants' groups across Nassau.
Last month, Governor George Pataki named Hudes the winner of the state's Small Business Advocate of the Year Award, one of several Pataki honored as part of the State Small Business Awards. Hudes was chosen from thousands of names referred to him by the New York State Business Advisory Board.
Hudes took over the presidency as the county council of chambers after the death of Daniel Lehner this summer.
Despite the discount prices, selection, size and fancy interiors of large retailers, Hudes says the local merchants provide the support system for a community. He points to his home community, Levittown, and Bill Levitt's idea 50 years ago to have village green retailers.
"The local stores, the village green-type stores are the stores that end up on the back of the St. Bernard's basketball teams," Hudes said. "It's the mom-and-pop stores on Hempstead Turnpike that end up on the back of the Levittown Little League teams."
Hudes said the advantages the small store must promote are knowledgable and friendly customer service, and personal attention.
"Once the small-store owner knows those key points, they don't have to do a ton of advertising for new customers," Hudes said. "Their old customers will bring in their own new customers through word of mouth."
In nearby Bellmore, where Hudes co-presides over the local chamber and which has served as the model for the county's Operation Downtown program, the business vacancy rate has been reduced through several methods, according to the Nassau council.
They include the recent opening of a five-screen movie theater, restaurants and boutiques, and the adoption of an old-village theme including brick sidewalks and crosswalks, old-fashioned lamp posts, antique-style benches and historical displays, the council said.
The Nassau Council of Chambers is working with the "Operation Downtown" program and Hofstra University on a series of small business seminars, geared at teaching small businesses how to not only survive against larger stores, but also prosper.
For example, Hudes says, merchants shouldn't allow themselves or their employees to park in front of their store, taking away the space of their customers. And when there's no traffic, he said, then instead of standing outside and watching the cars pass, a merchant can create a mailing list of his or her customers.
"It's also very important to carry items that are not being carried at the big-box store," Hudes added. "Find the small manufacturer that makes something different, and create your niche in carrying items that you can't find there."
The Levittown resident agreed that some merchants are struggling with the age-old problem of landlords who charge what they consider exorbitant rents. Three years ago, Hudes himself was able to negotiate a fair rent that has allowed his Bellmore jewelry store to stay in the same location nearly 75 years. Hudes said part of the problem may be that some landlords would rather have a property stay empty, and take the deductions on their taxes.
He added that merchants have to be real-estate savvy and remember that the property with a rent of $15 per month per square foot might be right across the street from that which charges $12 per square foot.
State officials say that small businesses, those employing 100 or fewer workers, account for approximately 473,000 of all the businesses in New York. They employ more than 3.5 million New Yorkers, more than half of the state's private-sector work force, the state added.
"Small businesses are the economic backbone of New York's economy," said Gov. Pataki. "It is a priority of this administration to recognize their achievements, but most importantly to help them grow and thrive as New York continues its economic renewal."
Added Hudes: "We have to try and encourage the residents to think of their own community first, before they think of spending their money (at stores) where the money is going back to Texas. Many of the people that own businesses locally live locally, and so you're supporting your friends, your neighbors and your communities."
