Two iconic small businesses shut their doors

Two iconic small businesses shut their doors

By CHANDLER BROWN
Photo : Dennis Whitefield

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thursday, November 06, 2008

It looks like the nation’s economic crisis has claimed two of Atlanta’s most iconic small businesses.
On Thursday, Bob Carroll Appliance Co., a fixture in Decatur for decades, sat empty. And Happy Herman’s, a gourmet take-out joint and quick-serve lunch counter that had been on Cheshire Bridge Road since 1948, also was dark.

The phone at Bob Carroll, located in a strip shopping center at the corner of North Decatur and Clairmont roads, was disconnected. Multiple attempts to reach the owners this week were not successful.

“I hate to see another locally owned place go under,” said Lesley Harris, a 32-year-old television commercial producer who lives in Oakhurst. “It was really a good alternative to the big-box stores, where you don’t get that same personal care.”

Across town, Happy Herman’s on Cheshire Bridge closed July 31, owner Borz Zolali confirmed Thursday. Herman’s was best known as a deli and sandwich shop. But there was also a small market and a glass case filled with Joseph Schmidt chocolates, including the signature egg-shaped truffle. Herman’s also did a big business in made-to-order gift baskets.

“People just weren’t interested in spending money on gourmet items anymore,” said Zolali, who immigrated to the United States from Iran and bought the store nine years ago. “I guess it’s just a sign of the economy.”

Two independent Happy Herman’s locations — one on Johnson Ferry Road and one in Alpharetta — closed several years ago, Zolali said.

Experts say small businesses — no matter how long they’ve been around or how beloved they are — often operate on tiny profit margins. When times get tough, they often don’t have the capital to sustain themselves like a larger company might.

Further, with the nation in a credit and mortgage crisis, “customers are taking a hard look at what they really need and deciding the things they don’t really need, they’re not buying,” said Gregory Henley, director of the Russell Center for Entrepreneurship at Georgia State University.

Eating out and other expendable purchases are often the first to get cut out of the family budget, Henley said.

“People may not be going out to eat as frequently,” he said. “They may not be shopping. If they do go out to eat, they may not order the glass of wine or the second glass of wine like they used to.”

The slowdown in the housing market hit Atlanta-based Home Depot hard as well as Charlotte-based Lowe’s, both of which have reported lower-than-expected sales and layoffs. Some smaller appliance stores like Bob Carroll simply couldn’t hang on, Henley said.

“People are saying, ‘You know, I’m going to stick with the old refrigerator a little longer’ or ‘I’m going to try to fix the old dishwasher instead of buying a new one.’”

Henley has long touted metro Atlanta — with its booming population, good weather and the world’s busiest airport — as a great place to start a small business.

“That has not changed, even though we’re in a bad economy,” Henley said. “Over time, I think there’s a bright future for small businesses here and across the United States.”