Running a small business in a higher-cost environment is hard enough. But in a small town that”™s becoming even smaller, the ability to survive can be even more challenging.
In Sherman, the northernmost town in Fairfield County, roughly a dozen storefronts make up the heart of the downtown. The community started as a farming town but has since grown into a larger retirement community and weekend destination on the northern tip of Candlewood Lake. The nearest major highway is 10 miles away and the city”™s largest employers are the school district and government.
“We have a lot going for us,” said Gloria Thorne, a Sherman resident and president of the town”™s historical society. “We”™re just a quiet little town and we like it. We like it a lot.”
Yet according to 2010 census data, Sherman is the fastest-shrinking town in Connecticut. From 2000 to 2010, the town”™s population decreased 6.4 percent to less than 3,600 residents. In contrast, less than 30 miles away, the population of Oxford increased 29 percent to 12,700, during the same time period.
Michael Luzi, who owns the Sherman IGA grocery store, said he”™s felt a definite lull over the past five years. From about 1995 to 2005, he said, there was a big boom of development and population growth. His store would be packed with customers and new faces, but business has since declined.
Luzi said it could be the result of a population decrease, but also suggested the younger generations don”™t have as much loyalty toward the local shops, despite their locavore mantras. It”™s hard for him to compete with the big grocery stores outside of town.
“Businesses in town have a very hard time,” he said. “A lot of times I think you wonder why you”™re doing it in a small town like this. But I”™m doing it because I love the little town and I”™ve been here for so many years, I can”™t leave. I love the people that are my customers.”
Having owned the store for nearly 30 years, Luzi said he doesn”™t think he would be forced to close down, even though similar stores in Connecticut towns have gone out of business recently.
Luzi said he doesn”™t have any debt and can afford to occasionally operate at a loss. But any new business owner would likely struggle to survive, he noted.
Most of Luzi”™s profits come from “weekenders” who spend their summers at Candlewood Lake. Plus, the cost of starting a business and running it is “just staggering,” he said, citing the cost of electricity and health insurance for his employees.
Still, Luzi, who knows all his customers”™ names, said he would never leave.
“I think it”™s the most beautiful little town in New England,” Luzi said. “If I had to do it all over, I”™d do it again, exactly the same way.”
Sherman First Selectman Clay Cope said the town”™s population has grown since 2010, but he was unsure by how much.
Cope said town revenues, including income tax collections, haven”™t noticeably decreased.
Demand for town services, especially among seniors, has increased and the real estate market is stable, Cope said. Homes are being sold and not just to New York vacationers. Lately, he said, residents from neighboring towns with higher taxes have been moving to the area.
“We”™re not really feeling a huge effect,” Cope said. “From my perspective, houses sell and people buy them and people move in. It”™s a changing in demographics. Some move in with children and some move in from Pawling (New York).”
The town”™s population may be at risk of decreasing, but the town has continued to make improvements for its residents, including an upgrade to its library, roads and emergency services, Cope said.
Enrollment in the kindergarten through eighth grade is about 100 students fewer than it was at its peak a few years ago. But other effects of a shrinking town haven”™t been felt.
“It”™s not a town that has a lot of people moving in and out all the time,” Thorne said. “I doubt that it will become much else either. People want to keep it just as it is.”
