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Oct 17, 2008 7:24 pm US/Eastern
Economy In Crisis: How Average N.J. Town Survives
Teaneck Being Mindful, Innovative In These Tough Times
TEANECK, N.J. (CBS) ―
Tough economic times can be even tougher for small business owners. Teaneck is trying to attract new businesses, sustain the old ones and keep customers coming back.
Big goals, for a small town.
The Bergen County town of about 39,000 residents is located just west of the George Washington Bridge.
Like everywhere, pizza is comfort food here, in the best of times, in the worst of times. And Coliseum Pizzeria owner Nicholas Tuma has seen both.
"It's pretty much the food product costs that's hurting the small businessman," Tuma said. "With the flour going up and the cheese, it's a struggle sometimes. It's hard."
On the surface, Teaneck looks like it's doing okay. For instance, you don't see any of the stores on the main drag shuttered. However, this is Bergen County, which means the downtown stores are competing with malls. And that means the store owners have to get creative to keep people coming here.
Teaneck Mayor Kevie Feit said the town works hard not only to attract new businesses, but keep the old ones.
"We've been lucky so far in that, like you said, we haven't seen too many of our businesses abandoning our downtown area," Feit said. "So we're very encouraged by that."
Tova Marc, owner of Couture de Bride, designs modest wedding dresses for brides who don't want to go strapless. She only recently started her business, but the turmoil in the economy hasn't scared her.
"I don't think that brides are going to stop getting married," Marc said. "I think that now it's a matter of where they're going to spend their dollars."
Merrick Fradkin's family has owned Ludewig's hardware store for 100 years. He's noticed a change recently in what people are buying, and why.
"I think a lot of people aren't making the phone call to call contractors and to have things fixed," Fradkin said. "They're trying to save some money and do it themselves."
And those small business owners all say, the key to survival in these tough economic times is figure out what people are willing to spend their money on, and make sure they know where to get it.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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