{"id":477644,"date":"2022-07-25T06:17:19","date_gmt":"2022-07-25T03:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/small-business-owners-are-fighting-on-new-yorks-inflation-frontline\/"},"modified":"2022-07-25T06:17:19","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T03:17:19","slug":"small-business-owners-are-fighting-on-new-yorks-inflation-frontline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/small-business-owners-are-fighting-on-new-yorks-inflation-frontline\/","title":{"rendered":"#Small business owners are fighting on New York&#8217;s inflation frontline"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a256f6d1a064\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a256f6d1a064\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/small-business-owners-are-fighting-on-new-yorks-inflation-frontline\/#%E2%80%9CSmall_business_owners_are_fighting_on_New_Yorks_inflation_frontline%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Small business owners are fighting on New York&#8217;s inflation frontline&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/small-business-owners-are-fighting-on-new-yorks-inflation-frontline\/#The_gas_station\" >The gas station\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/small-business-owners-are-fighting-on-new-yorks-inflation-frontline\/#The_downtown_deli\" >The downtown deli\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/small-business-owners-are-fighting-on-new-yorks-inflation-frontline\/#The_town_variety_store\" >The town variety store<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/small-business-owners-are-fighting-on-new-yorks-inflation-frontline\/#The_hardware_store\" >The hardware store\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/small-business-owners-are-fighting-on-new-yorks-inflation-frontline\/#The_Chinatown_kitchen\" >The Chinatown kitchen<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CSmall_business_owners_are_fighting_on_New_Yorks_inflation_frontline%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Small business owners are fighting on New York&#8217;s inflation frontline&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>They cut hours, slashed budgets, raised prices \u2014anything to keep their doors open. There were no extra pots of money and no more government loans. They were small-business owners, and if they\u2019d had good years and not so good years, now they were having a very, very bad year.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On top of that, their customers thought they were price-gouging, which was laughable and infuriating at the same time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re just redirecting their anger, because I\u2019m the only point for them,\u201d says Hamza El Jamal, a garage- and gas-station owner in upstate New York. \u201cI tell them, \u2018I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve watched the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> anytime recently, but this isn\u2019t exactly in my hands.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n<p>The people whose hands it is in? They\u2019ve taken to finger-pointing or pretending.<\/p>\n<p>On May 10, President Biden blamed the Russians for our inflationary woes. \u201cAmericans\u2019 budgets are being stretched by price increases and families are starting to feel the impacts of Putin\u2019s price hike,\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/potus\/status\/1501959821368737792?lang=en\">he tweeted.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>By early July, it was gas-station owners. \u201cBring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you\u2019re paying for the product,\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/potus\/status\/1543263229006254080\">the president tweeted.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"967\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/small-business-03811.jpg?w=967\" alt=\"Hamza El Jamal. \" class=\"wp-image-23184282\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/small-business-03811.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1934 1934w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/small-business-03811.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1451 1450w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/small-business-03811.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=967 967w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/small-business-03811.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=484 483w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/small-business-03811.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 967px) 100vw, 967px\"\/><figcaption>Hamza El Jamal, who owns a garage- and gas-station in upstate New York, says customers think he\u2019s price gouging.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Nancy Rommelmann<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Then, just days ago, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre shrugged off all the hand-wringing. \u201cWe are stronger economically than we have been in history,\u201d she told reporters.<\/p>\n<p>It was insulting. Americans can see for themselves the alarming dip in their 401ks, and the stock market failing to rally. They know they are paying more for less, that every <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a> to the gas station or the grocery store is at least $100. They know that they are not, in fact, stronger economically than ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I spoke with a half-dozen small-business owners about inflation and the economy and their place in it. They\u2019d survived the pandemic and the lockdowns, but they were not sure they would survive this.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-wrapper twitter\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">My message to the companies running gas stations and setting prices at the pump is simple: this is a time of war and global peril. <\/p>\n<p>Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you\u2019re paying for the product. And do it now.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 President Biden (@POTUS) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/POTUS\/status\/1543263229006254080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 2, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_gas_station\"><\/span>The gas station\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Hamza El Jamal runs two garages and four gas stations in Westchester and Northern Dutchess County, including a Mobil station in Milan, NY. \u201cWhen you\u2019re at $2 per gallon, nobody pays attention. But when you\u2019re at $5, the customer is watching the price closely, and they notice if it goes up or down 5 cents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>El Jamal is of Palestinian descent and was born in Jordan. He was one of ten children, and moved here with his family when he was 2 in the 1980s. His family did everything it had to to get by. They ran fish markets in New York City and then they moved upstate. They thought they could make a better life there.<\/p>\n<p>For a long time, they could.<\/p>\n<p>But now everyone is driving less, so he\u2019s making less. \u201cWhen gas is $5 a gallon and you don\u2019t have stimulus money, people are not going to drive to a state park or take the kids on a road trip,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22201734439682.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"The Salesforce Tower and skyline are shown behind the gasoline price board at a gas station in San Francisco, Wednesday, July 20, 2022\" class=\"wp-image-23184300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22201734439682.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22201734439682.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22201734439682.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22201734439682.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Gas prices have hovered around $5 per gallon over the last several weeks.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP\/Jeff Chiu<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Lately, El Jamal has developed a go-to line that he uses with angry customers who come in complaining that he keeps raising gas prices: \u201cIf I was making the money you thought I was making, I wouldn\u2019t be standing here listening to you right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>El Jamal used to work at Shell, on the corporate side, and he knows that the big companies take advantage of gas prices by hiking up their own profit margins per gallon along with the actual price at the pump. \u201cThe margins go down for us, while big oil makes a ton more,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He calls the constant price fluctuations for gas and everyday groceries \u201cconfusing for the customer\u201d and says the stimulus checks, dispensed under Donald Trump and later Biden, knee-c<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ed an already flailing economy. \u201cIt was a terrible decision,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re just going to print money? What do you expect is going to happen to everything else?\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/40542884.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Shopping in a supermarket in New York on Friday, July 22, 2022.  \" class=\"wp-image-23184306\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/40542884.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/40542884.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/40542884.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/40542884.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>US inflation reached the highest levels in 41 years in June topping out at 9.1 percent. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Levine-Roberts\/Sipa USA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_downtown_deli\"><\/span>The downtown deli\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s 8 a.m. at Gourmet Deli &amp; <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General<\/a> Grocery on Canal Street in lower Manhattan, and Hannah, who would only give me her first name, is ringing up four Modelo tallboys for one customer and two packets of the dietary supplement Emergen-C for another.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much is this?\u201d asks Kristin, waving a packaged coffee cake. I usually see Kristin sleeping on the asphalt around the corner from the deli \u2014 I live down the block and come in for cold drinks, snacks and occasionally half-and-half. This morning, she\u2019s wearing a surprisingly unsoiled evening gown.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>\u201cTwo dollars,\u201d Hannah tells Kristin.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll take care of it,\u201d the Emergen-C buyer says, and pays for both the coffee cake and his own haul.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sort of thing happens a lot,\u201d Hannah tells me.<\/p>\n<p>Hannah is a 40-something Latina with brassy auburn hair she wears in a frazzled ponytail. She\u2019s petite, but the counter she stands behind is on a rise so she can keep an eye on things.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCustomers complain because we\u2019re charging a lot more than we used to,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat they don\u2019t understand is we\u2019re getting charged a lot more when we go buy the products.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At Gourmet Deli &amp; General Grocery, milk is $7 per gallon now. \u201cI mean, everything has gone up, from eggs to milk to chicken, steak,\u201d she said. \u201cOftentimes, we\u2019re out of stock on certain items because we can\u2019t find it. Then, if we do find it, we have to raise the price.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, Hannah said, customers slink away from the counter after she\u2019s rung them up. \u201cThey order a sandwich and then actually leave the sandwich.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gourmet Deli is open 24 hours, and the neighborhood can be dicey. The west side of the building is often a makeshift homeless encampment. There\u2019s a lot of yelling and fighting, and last month someone was stabbed in the entryway.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/small-business-041.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Gourmet Deli &amp; General Grocery on Canal Street in Manhattan.\" class=\"wp-image-23184312\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/small-business-041.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/small-business-041.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>At Gourmet Deli &amp; General Grocery on Canal Street in Manhattan, milk is $7 per gallon now.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Nancy Rommelmann<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe get a lot of homeless. Every day there\u2019s new ones,\u201d says Hannah, eyeing a skittish guy loitering near the in-store ATM. The concern is not so much that he, or someone like him, might lift a bag of chips, but that he freaks out or attacks someone. On top of that, she estimates that business is down 20%. \u201cIt\u2019s a really, really tough crowd here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hannah keeps an eye on the guy near the ATM while ringing up a French toast to-go. \u201cThe homeless will get a little violent \u2014 they get nasty with the other customers,\u201d she says. \u201cI have to be a little bit stronger, or else they\u2019ll just be all over me.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_town_variety_store\"><\/span>The town variety store<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Matthew Stickle, owner of A.K. Stickle Variety Store in Rhinebeck, NY, is the only one working there on a recent Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRight now, it\u2019s the start of the summer season. It should be a little bit busier,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"670\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/1242058843.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"A woman rests on a Manhattan street during a heat wave on July 22, 2022 in New York City. For the thousands of New Yorkers who live on the city's streets, relief from the heat is hard to find. Around the United States, heat causes an estimated 1,500 deaths annually, and advocates estimate that about half of those people are homeless. Much of the East Coast is experiencing higher than usual temperatures as a heat wave moves through the area forcing residents into parks, pools and beaches to escape the heat.\" class=\"wp-image-23184317\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/1242058843.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/1242058843.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/1242058843.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/1242058843.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Hannah says homeless people live outside the Canal Street deli.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Spencer Platt\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There\u2019s a single customer perusing household items.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Stickle\u2019s business has been taking it on the chin for more than two years. The pandemic delivered the first blow, and economic uncertainty has kept things unstable ever since. \u201cI don\u2019t know what to expect in the future,\u201d Stickle said. \u201cI don\u2019t think anybody does.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>COVID restrictions forced the store to close in March 2020 for the first time in its 75-year history. When Stickle opened three months later, it was without his staff. All of them had quit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was extremely difficult,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re still digging out. We buy from maybe 55 different companies, so the bills didn\u2019t stop, but our income did. It was very difficult to keep up with that.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22193721618025.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Eggs are displayed at a grocery store in Philadelphia, Tuesday, July 12, 2022. On Wednesday, July 13, 2022, the Labor Department will report on U.S. consumer prices for June\" class=\"wp-image-23184331\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22193721618025.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22193721618025.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22193721618025.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22193721618025.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Andy Wang says the price of a case of eggs jumped from $19 to $65.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP\/Matt Rourke<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The lone customer brings up her purchase: a $2.90 mesh laundry bag. Stickle rings her up and asks if she\u2019d like a bag.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo need,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHave a good one,\u201d he says. He tells me his secret sauce, the only thing he can control, is to \u201calways have a positive attitude, always thank the customers who come in, and keep doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>Stickle recalled how, as soon as he was able to reopen, business was brisk. \u201cA lot of people wanted to get out,\u201d he said. \u201cBut then the supply chain thing hit us. We would put in $3,000 orders and maybe get $500 worth of supplies. Some are waiting until they have more business in the area to deliver to, so then we\u2019re waiting an additional month or so.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Meaning the customer coming in for the laundry bag or the pool toys or the flannel shirts often finds them out of stock, with no assurance as to when they\u2019ll again be on the shelves.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Stickle does have one advantage over other businesses: His family owns the building. \u201cIf we had to pay rent on a space like this, we would have been out of business long ago,\u201d he tells me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe just keep plugging away, you know? Just like everyone else,\u201d he says. \u201cJust continuing to fight for stock and get what the customers are asking for. And just try to ride this out.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_hardware_store\"><\/span>The hardware store\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s the day of the local Pride parade, and outside of Roosters Home and Hardware in Pine Plains, NY, rainbow balloons tied to a lawn chair float beneath\u00a0red, white and blue bunting. The store skews New Homesteader, with soft lighting and premium paints.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Owners Jeff Como and his wife, Amy, were able to stay open during the pandemic since they were considered an essential business, and they were able to do well owing to the many people who fled the city \u2014 driving up home prices and bringing a lot of disposable income to the region.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"867\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/small-business-040-1-copy.jpg?w=867\" alt=\"Jeff and Amy Como of Roosters Home and Hardware in Pine Plains, New York.\" class=\"wp-image-23184280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/small-business-040-1-copy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1734 1734w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/small-business-040-1-copy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1301 1300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/small-business-040-1-copy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=867 867w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/small-business-040-1-copy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=434 433w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/small-business-040-1-copy.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 867px) 100vw, 867px\"\/><figcaption>Jeff and Amy Como were able to keep Roosters Home and Hardware in Pine Plains open during the pandemic because they were considered an essential business.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Nancy Rommelmann<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe pretty much cleaned up because there was nowhere else to go,\u201d Jeff said. \u201cWe did curbside, pick-up and delivery, and the orders were constant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople were home,\u201d Amy said. \u201cThey were like, \u2018I\u2019ll fix the sink now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The big problem now is their distributors keep bumping up their prices on a weekly basis. With 25,000 or so different products in the store, that creates huge logistical headaches and sometimes results in customers getting to the register and being charged more than they were expecting.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhoever they think is gouging, it\u2019s not the local retail store,\u201d Jeff said. Amy added that building materials like steel, lumber, plumbing parts and paint have seen the steepest increases.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22168711693563.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"High gas prices are shown in Los Angeles, Thursday, June 16, 2022. \" class=\"wp-image-23184344\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22168711693563.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22168711693563.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22168711693563.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22168711693563.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Jeff Como said a lot of people don\u2019t want to drive far because of the rising gas prices.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP\/Jae C. Hong<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As Jeff and Amy speak with me, they have to assure a customer that the hardware she is looking for is out of stock but should be in later in the week. She may have better luck at the Home Depot in Kingston twenty five miles away.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Jeff\u2019s not that worried about losing customers: A lot of people don\u2019t want to drive far because of the rising gas prices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI still think there\u2019s opportunity galore, and that it\u2019s up to the individual owners,\u201d Jeff said. \u201cThis idea that inflation is an existential threat? Get over it. Don\u2019t blame it on everybody else. Get your butt in the seat, be a pilot, and run your business. You can land that plane.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Chinatown_kitchen\"><\/span>The Chinatown kitchen<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re open? You\u2019re open?\u201d asks a woman with three daughters in tow. Andy Wang, who\u2019s owned Taiwan Pork Chop House in New York City\u2019s Chinatown for more than 20 years, shakes his head. He recently took down the window sign that read \u201cOpen 7 days a week\u201d since he is now closed on Tuesdays. He has not been able to retain enough staff.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22092522274762.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Customers shop at a grocery store in Mount Prospect, Ill., Friday, April 1, 2022. USDA says food inflation rate to soar, highest since 2008.\" class=\"wp-image-23184330\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22092522274762.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22092522274762.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22092522274762.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/AP22092522274762.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>The USDA says the food inflation rate soared this year to its highest since 2008.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP\/Nam Y. Huh<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On a recent Tuesday, the restaurant bears a signature chockablock quality, with open cartons on the floor and tables haphazardly pushed together. Family members pass in and out.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe raised the prices on our menus by 50 cents, but that\u2019s not holding us,\u201d Wang said. \u201cThe cost of our supplies is extremely unstable. It does not help that some goods are coming from Thailand and Taiwan. There are hold-ups at the ports, hold-ups from distributors, hold-ups in deliveries due to gas shortages.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThings are harder now than they ever have been. Things just don\u2019t feel normal,\u201d Wang says. \u201cI used to be able to buy a case of eggs for $19. Now, the average is $65. Last week, I had to pay $85. And we don\u2019t know where the roof is. The price just keeps going up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wang hands me a menu, showing \u201cMarinated Egg, $0.50.\u201d Paying more than four times for an item but charging the customer the same amount is unsustainable, but what can he do?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t expect people to pay that much more for an egg!\u201d he says. \u201cAnd we can\u2019t just keep printing new menus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wang hopes the government can do something about gas prices and, more generally, inflation. \u201cIt has to change,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For now, he keeps doing what countless other small-business owners are doing: working hard every day, making adjustments as needed, having his family give up \u201cany kind of pleasurable things for ourselves\u201d and hoping it\u2019s enough to get through.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI still believe in this country,\u201d he says. \u201cI still believe America is a good country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But he\u2019s not blind. \u201cWe\u2019ll never return to the way we were living before,\u201d Wang says. \u201cThere\u2019s so much instability, with the government but also with individuals and lifestyles and concepts and even our ideas of what life and work and eating out should be. You never know.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0Reprinted from Commonsense.news<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/07\/24\/small-business-owners-are-fighting-on-new-yorks-inflation-frontline\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Small business owners are fighting on New York&#8217;s inflation frontline&#8221; They cut hours, slashed budgets, raised prices \u2014anything to keep their doors open. There were no extra pots of money and no more government loans. They were small-business owners, and if they\u2019d had good years and not so good years, now they were having a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":477645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/small-business-039-31.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[131673,100568,70551,991,71083,73620],"class_list":["post-477644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-7-24-22","tag-gas-prices","tag-inflation","tag-joe-biden","tag-small-business","tag-upstate-new-york"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}