A recent Facebook discussion about downtown Lake Placid brought out a range of opinions about local businesses, particularly their operating hours and the challenges of shopping during the workweek. Some residents say businesses close too early, making it difficult to shop locally after work. Others point out that downtown businesses are independently owned, and their hours reflect choices about how they want to run their businesses and live their lives.
The published hours of 41 downtown businesses show a mix of schedules. Some close in the early afternoon, while others remain open into the evening and on weekends. Home Run Cafe lists Friday and Saturday hours until 8 p.m., La Pupusa Queen stays open until 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and Taqueria Y Tienda Jalisco lists daily hours until 9 p.m. The picture is not that nothing is open, but that the hours of some businesses may not work for everyone.
Here is a list of the retail and food and beverage businesses located in “downtown” Lake Placid only. Please forgive any omissions or errors.
Eric Lindhart offered a perspective worth considering in the discussion. Many downtown businesses are independently owned, he noted, and maximizing profit isn’t necessarily the goal. For some owners, the ability to set their own hours and enjoy the lifestyle they have chosen is part of the appeal of running a small business.
There’s another side to this, too. Business owners often try to give customers what they say they want, only to find that the customers don’t show up. Extending hours takes time and effort, and owners have to weigh that commitment against the return they actually see. Promises to shop locally don’t always translate into sales.
The merchants on Interlake tried bringing activity to Interlake Boulevard through events featuring entertainment. The entertainment was great, but business owners did not see the foot traffic they had hoped for. It is a frustrating situation: an event can be enjoyable and bring people together, yet still fail to bring customers into the businesses along the street. Getting people downtown and getting them to shop are not necessarily the same thing.
So where does that leave the conversation? Could a designated evening once a month, with participating businesses staying open later, create an opportunity for residents who work during the day? Would enough customers come to make it worthwhile? Or would it repeat the experience of previous events, with good entertainment but little additional business? What role, if any, could the Town of Lake Placid or the Chamber of Commerce play in supporting downtown businesses?
There are no easy answers. The published hours show that downtown has more options than some comments suggest, but they also show why certain residents may find it difficult to shop locally. Business owners have their own priorities and constraints, and customer interest has to translate into actual visits if a change is to make sense.
The discussion isn’t about telling owners how to run their businesses. It’s about understanding what residents want, what business owners experience, and whether there are opportunities to bring the two together.
What are your thoughts? What would make a difference for downtown Lake Placid?
