Mount Kisco makes success look easy
Ask Vince Lemma how his first few months on the job are going and he will tell you he is “very happy with the direction we”™re going in.”
The new president of the Mount Kisco Chamber of Commerce and junior partner at Antalek & Moore insurance brokerage was busy processing five new membership applications that arrived over the past few weeks.
The chamber now stands at approximately 145 members.
Lemma stressed the value and programs he and members of the board of directors hope to bring to the village.
“Last October we held an event at the Holiday Inn in Mount Kisco and it was a multichamber event that drew 300 to 400 people,” he said. “We had Hudson Valley Gateway, Mahopac Carmel, Sleepy Hollow, Yorktown ”¦ our members got to meet with people outside of their normal circumstance.”
George Arco, president of Arco Cleaning Maintenance Co. in Mount Kisco, which traces its roots to 1946, likes how the chamber “got me active and involved.”
“Some companies recognize a good way to expand their advertising is by networking in organizations like ours,” said Arco, the chamber”™s 2010 Citizen of the Year. “We have a lot of different events, sidewalk sales days and people who want to do business in Mount Kisco realize that”™s the best way to do it.”
Though the year started off slow for Arco, “percentagewise, we”™re now up 6 percent from last year.”
Last year “was sort of flat” for Arco, but he has “seen businesses coming into town where there are some opportunities.”
On Kisco Avenue, 21-year storefront Owners Rob and Susan Kraft of Creative Flooring, say that word of mouth, by far, has been their method of attracting new business during the recession.
“We”™ve had to get a lot more proactive about following up,” Susan said. “Our customer has been a lot more conservative in their selection and I think they”™re taking longer to make a decision, but they want to educate themselves more and price is significantly more of a factor.”
Rob Kraft said that in order to accommodate the shift in the consumer, “we”™ve brought in less-expensive, but good-quality, wools and it”™s been working very well for us.”
Blocks over on Main Street, the owner of specialty European bridal store Be Unique Boutique has employed the same method.
Erika Pitt is planning a $50,000 build-out to her store to serve the more traditional bride and “fill a gap” between the $1,500 and the $3,000 gown.
“The venue has changed,” Pitt said of the economy”™s impact on the wedding industry. “A lot of people are doing simpler weddings.”
Her business has been helped by her prime location in the center of town, because of “the visibility of the windows.”
“Cars are always passing my store,” she said. “If a customer can”™t find a dress here, I send them to Elephant”™s Trunk (on Main Street) or they come to me when it”™s the opposite.”
The mom-and-pop feel of the stores on Main Street wedded with the commercially concentrated North Bedford Road add to the village”™s versatility.
“We haven”™t seen a lot of vacant stores for a long time,” Arco said. “They seem to get rented out. I think it supports the fact that Mount Kisco is the shopping hub for northern Westchester.”
Establishments that have recently opened include: Smoker”™s Harbor, Acadia on Main, Silcotts Boutique, Arroway Chevrolet, NEO Asian Fusion, Churchill”™s of Mount Kisco, O”™Connor”™s Public House, and Right Click Solutions; Arco said a Flooring Liquidators will soon open across from Arroway and a Sherwin Williams franchise is expected to open.
“Landlords realize their jobs are cut out for them, but they are very aggressive with their agents to fill spaces,” Lemma said. “It”™s a bustling hub. Main Street is packed all day and all night. New businesses have come in and done well.”
