Small business owners offered many variations on a single theme: it is hard to build a business in a seasonal economy where expenses are rising and labor supply dwindling, even when demand is as strong as ever.
The future is uncertain for the last main street hardware store on Martha’s Vineyard. The building that houses Phillips Hardware on Circuit avenue in Oak Bluffs was listed for sale by the owners on March 15, with an asking price of $2.9 million.
When Brook Katzen moved to the Vineyard two years ago, it was not with the specific intention to buy a miniature golf course, a year-round restaurant, a taco truck, a retail building, an ice cream chain, and now a gourmet market.
The former Evolve Pilates fitness studio on Upper Main Street in Edgartown and a small house next door have been purchased by trusts managed by Vineyard Vines CEO Shepard Murray.
The 2021 season was supposed to be the summer of recovery. And it mostly was. But business owners said it came at its own cost.
Stina Sayre’s Freedom Collection fashion show last week was a benefit for Friends of Family Planning.