BRYAN, Texas — Many local businesses are starting to find themselves struggling as the summer goes on, especially when it comes to inflation and high utility bills.
“It makes it hard to pay the bills,” said Lindsey Terry, Owner of the Whimsy & Wild Emporium in Downtown Bryan.
Terry says keeping her children’s bookstore open is especially challenging because they’ve only been in business a year.
“The days we have two, even one customer come in — I’ve paid for the electricity and the lights and an employee all day it makes it hard.”
Even businesses that have been in the community for a while like the Chocolate Gallery are having trouble keeping up with the heat.
“We had one of our refrigeration units go out [that costs] $10,000. [Maintenance costs like this] can kill businesses easily,” said owner, Josh Neubauer.
Lisa Boenker with the Brazos Valley Small Business Development Center, in coordination with the University of Houston Texas Gulf Coast chapter, helps give free advising to owners that need extra resources for their businesses. Boenker explains why this troubling trend is more common in our area.
“There’s about 80,000 students, so when they leave for the summer that definitely impacts these small businesses in the terms of them losing these potential customers and potential employees,” Boenker said.
Terry says while the future seems uncertain for her children’s bookstore, she hopes this chapter in her life doesn’t have to end.
“I don’t want to give up on it. I know the first few years are hard, but when you can’t pay the bills it makes it even harder to push forward when you have nowhere to pull from.”