Pictured is Sorena Gilkinson, the owner Handcrafted from the Heart located in the village of Mayville. Submitted photo
MAYVILLE — Four women-owned businesses along South Erie Street in the village have all seen success over the past year.
The four businesses — Mayberry Jungle, Bene Esse, Handcrafted From The Heart and Quintessential — are reporting growth while their owners are keeping their focus on overcoming the challenges that small businesses have had to face over the past year.
For two of the businesses, challenges such as staffing have not been an issue.
“I’ve found most people understand that inflation affects our prices, and have still been supportive,” said Ariel Cartwright, owner of Mayberry Jungle, a flower and plant shop. “The costs of having an employee, however, have been too high for my young business to support, so I do most everything solo.”
Even with that, Cartwright said his business has been steady and that he is grateful for the support from the local community.
(Below) Pictured is Julia Murphy, owner of Quintessential, a print shop that offers a variety of services. Submitted photo
Sorena Gilkinson, owner of Handcrafted From The Heart, said inflation has been a problem over the past year.
“With inflation, I have seen people having to make a decision on what they are buying — wants vs. needs — because they too have to watch what they are spending,” Gilkinson said. “With a small business, you hope to expect that you will continue to grow year over year. Slow and steady growth is a good way to go but instances of inflation and a worldwide pandemic really make things more challenging. I have continued to grow through the challenges and have plans for 2023.”
Barb Miller Nickerson, who owns Bene Esse — a life coach/positive psychology practice — said his business has grown over the past year with new clients. She has had to focus on not overextending when it comes to staffing issues.
“We carry a line of retail merchandise associated with well-being, some private-labeled, that allows us to maintain a low hourly rate for individual services,” Nickerson said. “Relative to staffing, we are a small practice, so we are just careful not to overextend or overbook ourselves. That way we can worry less about staffing issues, we do not get burned out, and our clients receive the amount of time and attention they deserve.”
For Quintessential, a print and shipping shop owned by Julia Murphy, shipping costs and fuel shortages have been the biggest issue.
Pictured is April Cartwright, owner of Mayberry Jungle. Submitted photo
“We noticed an increase in overall shipping costs for our FedEx and UPS customers, due to the fuel surcharges that were on the rise throughout the year,” Murphy said. “The rising cost of fuel influenced our customers’ buying behavior — we would occasionally have a customer price out a shipment and decide not to go through with it. Something like, ‘oh, I’ll see my niece in a couple months and I’ll just wait to give her these presents then.’”
While Murphy said this was hurtful for his small business, other issues such as staffing have not been a problem. She added that along with the business’ normal offerings of graphic design, blueprint making, shredding, faxing and laminating services, they have also added digital fingerprinting services with Identogo which brought in more customers. She added that they also have many repeat customers.
Three of the four women said they would not have done anything differently over the past year, even with the struggles. Murphy wishes he had advertised more and worked to expand their customer base.
“Being the only shipping center on the north side of Chautauqua Lake, we’d love to reach out to more people needing our services,” Murphy said. “Also, being just a block away from the county seat, we’d love to work with our local government agencies more for whatever needs they have.”
Murphy said in the new year he hopes to be able to keep creating and stay inspired. For the others, plans include getting the knowledge out about themselves along with remodeling and connecting to the community more.
“Some of the things I am planning for in 2023 is continued growth through additional products and services, as well as Business to Business Collaboration with each of our local businesses,” Gilkinson said. “I have started this already by working with businesses on a one-one level to create and host joint events. This creates a community of connections and helps to build those relationships with those around us. As my saying goes ‘we are all in this together, so let’s work together and make it fun’.”
Both Nickerson and Cartwright are looking to expand and remodel this year.
Specifically, Nickerson said he hoped to be able to be a part of improving the village of Mayville.
“My husband and I purchased the Swedish Opera House Block, the building in which the Bene Esse office is located, so we have plans/hopes to continue to be a part of the revitalization of the village,” Nickerson said. “We have begun to incorporate retail, the Opera House Home & Gift, currently located at 30 South Erie, with 100% of the proceeds going to the restoration of the opera house. Our vision aligns with one of the key core values of Bene Esse — which is Latin for well-being — in that we want to see the community and its members thrive.”
For Cartwright, her focus is on remodeling her space and seeing the positive things happening to all of Mayville.
“The past year has been different, but better than I expected,” Cartwright said. “I have been so happy to hear how excited our locals are to see new businesses open up in Mayville. I feel as though there’s a wave of positivity spreading throughout the village and good things are happening for us. I’m planning to remodel and create an exciting new space to host weekly workshops to entertain and educate the community and am hoping to inspire togetherness in the village of Mayville.”
Gilkinson said she hopes in the future to show what all her business offers and to help those who might need classes in handcrafting items.
“We have so much going on at my store — which may be confusing to people,” Gilkinson said. “I am primarily an Associate Real Estate Broker with ERA Team VP Real Estate and have the ability to meet with clients in my shop. I also offer notary services within this space. But as for my business Handcrafted From the Heart — we are a gift shop of unique items that are handmade locally by myself and a few others.”
Handcrafted From The Heart also offers products made in the United States by other small businesses if items are not available locally. Classes for anything that can be handmade are also offered by Gilkinson and sometimes in collaboration with others.
“We host in-person classes for all things handmade — if I don’t personally know how to do something, I will find someone who does and we will put a class together,” Gilkinson said. “We are a creative space and create just about anything you can think of — again also listing others as needed. And lastly — we support our community and give back. We sponsor local teams as the Mayville Little League. We donate to events such as the Mayville Winter Festival and local Fire Departments. And we simply love where we live so when I am here my door is always open.”
