VILLAGE OF LEWISTON, N.Y. (WKBW) — For small business owners in the Village of Lewiston, winter isn’t just a season — it’s a challenge of endurance.
"It's hard, it's hard, not even gonna sugarcoat that," said Kathy Pignatora, owner of Inspirations on Canvas.
Pignatora, a painter, has operated her shop on Center Street for nearly a decade. She finds joy in creating and selling her artwork.
"There's just no better feeling in the world than someone taking home a piece that you created," she said. "They'll send me a picture later that they brought it home and it's sitting on their mantel."
However, the post-holiday months bring a noticeable dip in foot traffic.
"And so you have to find a way to get through January, February, March, and April," Pignatora explained. "I think it takes a lot of creativity to make this work."
For her, that creativity comes in the form of paint nights, an effort that proved successful last year when every session sold out.
"So I continue to do that. That's really, honestly, it's transformed my winter months, especially," she said.
Across the street, Neil Garfinkel, owner of Sgt. Peppers Hot Sauces Etc., also feels the effects of the seasonal slowdown.
"Well, we have sauces and spices, and we're big into hot sauce—that's part of the name of the business," Garfinkel said.
The winter months, he admitted, have been particularly challenging in recent years.
"Last couple of years, it's been tough, really tough in the winter, tougher than the whole rest of the time we were open. Why? I don't know. I think inflation may be a factor," he said.
Garfinkel has developed a strategy to pay his utility bills in advance to combat the financial strain.
"So I get a utility bill, and it might be zero, or they owe me money. So I save. I know that I need to put savings away for the winter, because it's like this every year," he explained.
Even with preparation, there are still slow days that test his patience.
"When it's slow, I sit here and pray laughs, but people do come in. We have our locals that come in," Garfinkel said.
At Lewiston Estates and Antiques, vendor Linda Moscati has also noticed the impact of the slow season.
"This winter is tough," she said, adding that the key to maintaining sales at the eight-vendor shop is keeping the inventory fresh.
"We try to keep everything like changing. Everything is changing every week actually," Moscati said.
Financial planning is also critical for the business to stay afloat.
"We try in the summer months, when it's really good, to save our money, because sales tax is also due this month, this time of year," she explained.
Despite the challenges, Lewiston’s small business owners remain hopeful, calling on the community to support them.
"So if people could remember we are, I think, the backbone of some of the communities that they could return to, shopping small, shopping local, as we did after the pandemic. We need you," Pignatora said.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
