Until recently, 528 Jersey Ave. in downtown Jersey City was the home of the Imagine Atrium bookstore, run by young businessman Garrad Bradley. The independent store had hosted readings by authors such as Naomi Wolf and community events for adults and children alike.
Bradley sent an e-mail to customers last month saying: “As we’ve been unable to work out alternatives pursued over the past month, Imagine Atrium will be closing its Jersey City storefront as planned during the second week of April.”
As the three-year-old business came to an end, other local downtown business owners talked about how they plan to weather the economic downturn and stay afloat even as the book store could not.
Everybody’s business
It was a Friday night, and the Stockinette Knitting Café at 581 Jersey Ave., four blocks from Imagine Atrium, was packed with visitors viewing a display by Japanese photographer Tatsuro Nishimura.
The Stockinette opened in September when Gynine Visconti’s unique vision of a one-stop shop for crocheting and coffee came together.
On Friday night, no one was turning the high quality alpaca yarn displayed for sale into a sweater, but people were mingling in both the café and backyard area.
Visconti said part of the key to survival of the Stockinette is to encourage new friendships not just amongst staff and customers, but among the customers themselves, emphasizing the community in a community-oriented business.
“I thought it shouldn’t just be a place to sit and drink your coffee, but also a meeting place, which encourages people to come back again and creates more business,” Visconti said.
Floyd J. Bennett also treats his customers as more than customers at his newly reopened FJB Comics and Games on Coles Street. He was originally located on York Street until a fire damaged his building last fall. He held a grand opening last week.
“The people who have kept me in business are people who became my friends when they first came into my shop on York Street,” Bennett said. “Some don’t even come into my store to buy anything, but just to talk.”
Starting small and staying small
Hoboken resident Celeste Governanti began her selling of organic baked goods last year at several farmers markets in Northern New Jersey including Jersey City. It was her success in Van Vorst Park in downtown Jersey City that led to her opening Made With Love Organic Bakery and Café on, you guessed it, Jersey Avenue in December.
Governanti said plying her wares outdoors first was helpful.
“The farmers markets enabled me to establish prices and test out the products to see what was selling and what wasn’t,” Governanti said.
Liz Long and her business partner Holly Tienken started Bag The Habit, their reusable bag company, two years ago. Located in an office space at 140 Bay St., the company has a presence in other local entities such as Skin Organix and the Jersey City Museum. They even earned a mention in Mayor Jerramiah Healy’s State of the City Address in February.
“When you are a small business, it is about movement and change, to be adaptive,” Long said. “We started online and thought of having an actual store, we only have enough merchandise to fill a window.”
Visconti, Bennett, Governanti, and Long all agreed that having a small overhead with very few if any employees helps them to stay in business.
What can Jersey City do?
The four business owners also have something in common: they didn’t look to the city for much help with financing or support. However, Governanti said she has met with the Jersey City Economic Corporation, the private 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation that since 1980 has been tasked with the responsibility of promoting businesses of all stripes to establish in Jersey City.
The JCEDC’s goal is to administer and promote the Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ), which covers much of Jersey City, making it an area where businesses can charge lower taxes such as half of the state’s 7 percent retail tax.
The city’s deputy mayor, Rosemary McFadden, said new business owners can go to the JCEDC as a resource.
“We see businesses that we love withering on the vine and closing in recent years.” – Alex Forrester
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“Small businesses are crucial to this city’s economy and given the economic climate the city will do everything possible help them out,” McFadden said.
Alex Forrester, the co-founder of an organization called Rising Tide Capital, said the city could help by doing a study of the obstacles put in front of small businesses, especially downtown where he and his wife Alfa reside. He said landlords should attract new business tenants rather than leaving storefronts empty, and waterfront residents should be encouraged to shop downtown.
“We see businesses that we love withering on the vine and closing in recent years,” Forrester said. “These small business owners are all courageous people who need our support.”
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonrreporter.com.