Competitors Abound Along US 5 | Hartford Business

Competition could be good

Daniel Forest sees a Holiday Inn Express under construction next door to his U.S.A. Motor Lodge in Newington and sees an opportunity.

Although many, mostly independent, motels already line both sides of the Berlin Turnpike, Forest said a new Holiday Inn Express could draw more travelers to the road, possibly filling him with spill-off business.


"They will bring in more competition to the turnpike," Forest said. "People could see their higher prices and then come down here."
Unlike other hoteliers on the stretch of road that offer weekly and monthly rates, the U.S.A. Motor Lodge focuses strictly on nightly customers, something the Holiday Inn Express also specializes in.

Tax rebate does nothing

The owners of Cedar Mountain Stoves, LLC on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington hoped their business would pick up when the federal government offered a tax rebate on their wood, pellet and gas stoves; but the response was minimal.


“Business is terrible right now,” owner Craig Ryans said. “We, as a dealer, get very little support.”

Although summer is not typically the best time of year to sell new stoves, the business has survived only by providing service on stoves. Cedar Mountain opened in December 2005, and 2009 was the worst full year to date.

This year might finish even worse, Ryans said, as revenues are down nearly 70 percent from the first months of last year. Much like the housing market, stoves are priced to sell, if people can afford the investment.

For the summer, Cedar Mountain has decreased the prices on its stoves by $1,000 or more; and that, coupled with the tax rebate, means customer potentially could buy a stove at half off.

“If you are in a financial state to buy, now is the time to buy,” owner Harold Davison said. “The trouble is most of us don’t have $3,000 or $4,000 lying around.”

Cut Out The Median

As the traffic counts diminish in front of Pet Supplies Plus in Wethersfield, president Jason Humphries wishes the Connecticut Department of Transportation would open access to both sides of the road.

The median running down the Berlin Turnpike in places is a wide expanse of grass while in others it is a simple metal barrier. Although the stretch of route is ripe with left-turn cut-throughs and turn-arounds, the barrier doesn’t make it easy to get from one side to the other.

“Anything the DOT can do would make our lives easier,” Humphries said. “I don’t want my customers to have to worry about the road.”

Gunning down rivals

The business of offering vintage military clothing, equipment and collectibles went straight downhill over the past five years, said Bill Moore, co-owner of Military Specialties Inc. on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington.


When a competing store opened up on the same block in October, Moore said, business went from bad to worse, even though Military Specialties Inc. has a 25-year foothold on the neighborhood.

Army Barracks opened Oct. 2 on the Berlin Turnpike offering many of the same items as Military Specialties. Business has risen slowly but steadily, said assistant store manager Kris Lewis.

One range of products Army Barracks offers beyond Military Specialties is Airsoft guns, which look and feel like the real thing but shoot pellets. The guns are a big seller, Lewis said, and are gaining popularity in the area. The Airsoft businesses spins off into other areas of the store, as customers buy clothing and equipment to use when playing with their mock guns, Lewis said.

source: Competitors Abound Along US 5 | Hartford Business

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