Wednesday, January 18, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
9
Sisters merchants feel winter’s chill
By Steve Kadel
Correspondent
While businesses that sell
winter clothing or other cold-
season necessities have done
well in recent weeks, the pro-
longed cold snap and heavy
snowfall has played havoc
with other Sisters companies.
Many customers simply
stay home when the tempera-
tures plunge and the streets
become icy, several business
owners told The Nugget this
week.
“It’s been pretty dead the
last few days,” said Crystal
Gomez, a waitress at Takoda’s
Restaurant and Lounge. “Our
regulars keep us going in the
winter.”
Lots of skiers stopped by
Takoda’s early in the season,
she said, but their numbers
have declined as road condi-
tions deteriorated. Gomez said
the drop-off in customers has
been worse recently than dur-
ing other winters.
Mitch Mansfield, who
owns Sisters Olive and Nut
Co. with his wife Julie, said
the recent weather had a big
effect.
“It kicked us in the head,”
he said.
Although Mansfield said
snow in December gave the
town “a festive feel,” he
acknowledged that business
activity routinely slows during
the winter. He said the recent
situation “hasn’t been devas-
tating” and is something local
merchants learn to deal with.
“We’ve been at it for nine
years,” Mansfield said. “You
stuff the mattress and hope
you make it until May.”
He acknowledged that road
conditions have often pre-
vented him from opening the
store on time.
“It doesn’t matter because
customers can’t get here any-
way,” Mansfield said with a
chuckle.
Sisters Area Chamber of
Commerce board president
Chris Wilder said his firm
— Sisters Log Furniture and
Home Decor — had a very
busy year in 2016 but the
recent weather has slowed the
pace.
“It’s a tough start to 2017,”
said Wilder, who has occa-
sionally sent employees home
early when storms are antici-
pated. Like other businesses,
Wilder’s firm has closed on
some days due to bad weather.
He credited local business
owners for working hard to
keep sidewalks shoveled for
shoppers’ safety.
Not only has Sisters
Country been hit by snow
and cold temperatures, but the
same thing has happened in
the Willamette Valley, reduc-
ing the number of out-of-town
shoppers, Wilder noted.
“This is my 11th year
here and this (winter) has
been tougher than most,”
he said. “The costs to oper-
ate businesses keep on com-
ing whether customers walk
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Mitch Mansfield, owner of Sisters Olive and Nut Co., says the severe winter
weather has reduced the number of customers at his store.
through the door or not.”
At Los Agaves Mexican
Grill, owner Jimmy Fernandez
estimated his business has
been down by 80 percent dur-
ing the past month.
“It has been very difficult,
and there’s nothing we can
do,” said Fernandez, who has
been forced to reduce some
staff members’ hours.
The same thing happened
at Martolli’s pizzeria, where
clerk Emily Skalda said she
has lost some of her week-
end hours due to a drop in
business.
Likewise,
Ashley
Crawford of The Depot Café
said there’s little business
done on days when a snow-
storm hits.
“But after the storms,
things really pick up,” she said.
Sisters Market and Eatery
has lost a few customers dur-
ing the bad weather while
gaining others. Clerk Jim
Gladden said contractors
don’t stop by when the snow
flies, but plowing crews help
make up for that loss.
When school is canceled,
the market and eatery loses
money from high school stu-
dents, which Gladden called
“a really good crowd” on most
days.
One business owner who
has smiled through the rough
weather is Sue Leek, owner of
Mackenzie Creek Mercantile,
which stocks everything from
stocking caps to winter socks
and even snowshoes.
The 53-year Sisters resi-
dent said she can only recall
two years when the area
received more snow than it
has this winter. The snowfall
has helped keep her cash reg-
ister ringing.
“I have had a very good
cold weather period because
people realized I have this
gear,” she said.
Whatever their business,
merchants in Sisters all have
one thing in common: They
depend on local trade to get
through the winter — espe-
cially a hard one.