Small Business Owners Regrouping After 'Blackout'

When the lights went out at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 29 in the northern section of Queen Street, so did Vito Montelli’s business. The owner of T was unable to open again for a week, losing customers and putting his business in a tough economic position.

Montelli is one of many small business owners who were adversely affected by the severe power outages that left more than customers across the state in the dark – and his business paid the price more and more each day.

“We aren’t in sales. We can’t open our doors and simply sell stuff,” Montelli said Thursday. “With tanning bed services, we are dependent on the electricity. CL&P service is critical to our overhead; it is the largest bill I have every month. I don’t find it acceptable that a company in charge of a commodity like electricity is not set-up to handle a massive event like this is a quicker way.”

Montelli and Tropical Tanning is one of a now growing list of businesses across the state that have , seeking $1,000 for damages associated with the loss of power for an extended period of time.

In a struggling economy, businesses in Southington are already looking for innovative ways to make ends meet and many are not in position to readily absorb unplanned closings. Each day off means not only a loss of revenue, but also a loss of customer base for an extended period of time due to circumstances from blackout.

It’s not necessarily money that Montelli is looking for in joining the lawsuit, but rather an action that would force change to prevent another situation like this from occurring in the future.

“It’s more about responsibility and forcing CL&P to recognize what has happened,” Montelli said. “Every year, I need to post a bond for supply for electric as a high level user as protection in case businesses like mine go bankrupt and can’t pay their bill. What makes any different from their end? They should be required to have guarantees in place to make sure this doesn’t happen.”

Tropical Tanning is among a handful of businesses who are trying to find a way to make ends meet, including on Queen Street, although Southington Patch was unable to confirm Thursday afternoon if any other local business had filed with the Forestville-based Jazlowiecki & Jazlowiecki, the firm representing the suit on behalf of those involved.

Down the road at , owner Debra Wright said her business was fortunate not to have the power out. If they had experienced a week or more without electricity, she said Thursday that it would have been nearly impossible to recover.

“I can’t say that things would ever have been the same,” Wright said.

At some businesses in town, including the at 212 Main Street and the at 570 Main Street, attendants and owners said they’d never seen so much business before. Both were open by Sunday morning, Oct. 30, and saw lines with waits as much as an hour long at times.

One attendant, speaking briefly in between working with customers buying batteries, water and other items, said it seemed the lines were never ending.

"Man, this is just crazy," one attendant said.

Others stores were able to turn to generators to help keep things going. Montelli said businesses like his tanning salon don’t have that luxury.

“It wouldn’t be beneficial,” he said. “We’d be incurring costs and our regular customers were also without power at their home, so they aren’t coming to tan. It’s not as simple as plugging in a generator and staying open.”

Montelli said what is often overlooked is the indirect cost to businesses and the economy as a whole. While stores selling food and supplies, gas stations and hotels saw an increase in customers, the money they are receiving so that people can live without electricity is the same money that would have otherwise been used on recreational activities such as tanning.

Employees working for businesses like Tropical Tanning also suffer. Not only do they need to spend money to get food and supplies in excess of their normal spending, but they are not making their usual paychecks with the store being closed. Manager Alex Giliberto is one of many throughout the community who had no way to make an income with the power out.

The only thing businesses can do is start over, Montelli said, and hope that they will one day get back to where they were before the snowstorm.

“It’s a lingering problem. That feeling I had the day I bought my business, that uncertainty if I would make it, that’s how I feel right now,” Montelli said. It seems like everyone around us was affected by this, and they’re still not quite whole again.”