DI businesses join national counterparts in expressing optimism about future

With the economy on a current high, things are looking good for businesses of all sizes. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) recently reported that their Small Business Optimism Index has continued its upward trend, attaining its third highest rating in the survey’s 45 year history. The Small Business Optimism Index is a tool that measures several factors NFIB members report to gauge overall optimism. These include plans to increase employment, aims to increase inventory, and expectations for the economy to improve.

“This is the longest streak of small business optimism in history, evidence that tax cuts and regulatory rollbacks are paying off for the economy as a whole,” said NFIB President and CEO Juanita D. Duggan in a statement on the NFIB website about the September ratings. “Our members say that business is booming and prospects continue to look bright.” And October has only gotten better.

At least four Daniel Island businesses are feeling the national trend as well.

Julianne Scott, manager of Lucia’s Premium Pet, reports that although their business is need-based, similar to a grocery store, the company’s outlook is good.

“We’re needing more staff,” she said. “We aren’t always affected by what other retail is affected by as far as trends.”

“People are always going to need dog food,” she added. “We don’t have a doom and gloom attitude.”

Scott has been with Lucia’s for four years and said that she’s seen the business, sales, and items stocked all grow.

Island Expressions, located next to the Daniel Island Publix, has a similar view of the near future.

“We have seen an increase in business that has made us busier,” said manager Pam Bailey. “And rather than one person being there for a shift, we may bring two people in for a shift.”

Anyone with a calendar will know that this is the busy season for a lot of stores. With the holiday season upon us, more people will be venturing out to local businesses seeking gifts for loved ones, friends and colleagues.

Island Expressions is a custom framing shop and a gift store. Bailey believes that their ability to personalize picture frames creates repeat customers, aiding the business tremendously.

“Typically, once someone frames with us and starts building that relationship, we do all of their framing,” she said. “We’ve actually seen customers who come in and have a graduation picture of their child framed. And then they come back in six years later, and here’s a grandchild, the child of that graduate.”

Bailey added that this has been the best year that the store has seen and Island Expressions’ plan for the future is to expand their customer base.

At Cooper River Cycles on Daniel Island, things are looking up as well.

“We are always so appreciative of the support and dedication to shop local from all of our customers!” said owner Gage Cooper. “Also, on a larger scale, consumers are really starting to push for small businesses which, of course, has been great for us!”

Cooper said the shop is planning on another “very busy holiday season” and they have already hired “two new holiday elves to satisfy demand.”

“We have lots of inventory being delivered and are working hard to make sure the hooks are stocked and bikes are assembled,” he continued. “In our ongoing efforts to help Santa as much as we can, our bike storage and delivery program is running until 2 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Lookout for the Cooper River Cycles team driving around and spreading holiday cheer!”

The Daniel Island UPS Store is also experiencing an increase in business.

“The UPS Store on Daniel Island is doing very well this year,” said store owner Susan Garcia. “We are ahead in sales about 17 percent.”

Garcia feels the same optimism shared by others in the small business world and is looking forward to the holiday season.

“We expect the holiday season to be robust,” she said. “Our business is shipping predominately. Though many people buy and ship online, we also expect many people to buy and ship gifts to their families. People still get great joy from mailing packages to their friends and families. Many people bring their gifts and have us package them for shipping which is another large part of our business. We also do a lot of printing. Other small businesses use us to make holiday thank you and marketing material and we have many people making holiday party invitations.”

“The people on Daniel Island are great about trying to buy local on the island,” added Garcia, “and it is greatly appreciated.”