Business

When Nick LaFarnara was a kid, his father opened a pet store in Batavia and Nick worked there from the time he was 5 years old.

He loved it.

But when Anthony LaFarnara was injured in a work-related accident at Doehler-Jarvis, the family had to close the pet store.

But young Nick never forgot.

"That was it," said LaFarnara. "I just couldn't get it out of my system."

In October 1985, LaFarnara and his ex-wife, reopened the store at a location on Ellicott Street. Although LaFarnara would later remarry and move the store to its current location at 33 Liberty St., Batavia, it is still going.

Neptune's Garden specializes in fish -- lots of fish, exotic and freshwater and saltwater and just plain old guppies and goldfish. It's also a favorite place for birds and reptiles.

Occasionally, they have kittens or puppies available for adoption and they also make a bulletin board available for anybody who has a pet to give away.

"Even though we don't make any money on it, it's better than seeing a pet killed," said Kathy LaFarnara, Nick's wife of about 10 years.

Kathy met Nick when she was a legal secretary for an attorney handling Nick's divorce. He told her he owned a pet store.

"I thought, 'big whoop,'" Kathy said. "I'm allergic to everything in your store."

As somebody who grew up never owning pets, she soon fell in love with having animals around.

"They run up to the door to greet you, they sleep in your bed, they just love you, and I realized, 'this is great,'" Kathy said. "I take a lot of medicine to work here."

Kathy mostly handles the birds, the reptiles, the grooming and the saltwater fish. Nick takes care of ordering, the freshwater fish and pretty much everything else.

Besides selling pets, the LaFarnaras give tours to local schoolchildren and bring pets into schools so they can learn about different kinds of animals.

"We tell them what it's like to own a business, take care of the pets and never get to take a vacation," Kathy said.

Some time ago, during one of our discussions on The Batavian about big box stores, it occurred to me that it might be interesting to get Assemblyman Steven Hawley's take on the issue. Hawley is somebody with deep roots in the community, a small business owner and as a legislator he is in a position to deal with issues that impact small business owners.

Steve was gracious enough to write a response to my question about his position on these issues. Below is his response.

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R, I, C – Batavia): What the state legislature and local community can do to support New York’s small businesses.

In our free market economy, practiced in the United States, consumer demand is the driving force behind the success or failure of all businesses. Products and services are produced on an as-needed basis, with increased sales or transactions or product made and another job created. In truth, the way you spend your dollar has a ripple effect that can reach across your community, the state of New York, the country and sometimes across the globe. That’s the beauty of the free market – the power is in your hands.

Armed with the knowledge that the market conforms to your decisions, the question becomes how you want to spend your hard-earned money. In communities across our great state, consumers are faced with the same decision each and every day; should I take my dollar to a locally owned business or to the nearest “Big Box” location?

Surely, I recognize the minor advantages presented by global conglomerates offering generic products in bulk at deflated prices, but the consequences of abandoning your neighborhood shop in favor of a multi-national corporation go far beyond the bill at the bottom of your receipt.

For example, the money made by a business is used for, among other things, creating and maintaining positions of employment. Companies like Home Depot are world-renowned for hiring almost exclusively on a part-time basis so that they can avoid paying benefits afforded to full-time employees, such as health insurance and paid vacation.

So when you buy your groceries at a “Big Box” store, you are perpetuating their cycle of under-employment and inadequate compensation for their workers, who are also your neighbors. When you buy locally made products at your neighborhood store, your dollar is providing full-time, gainful employment for the members of your community.

The industry that may rely the most heavily on the loyalty of the local consumer is agriculture. No other profession requires the amount of dedication and hard work displayed by Western New York’s farmers.

This is why it is so vital for consumers to partake in local farmers’ markets that display the best agricultural products in the community in one convenient location. I have introduced legislation A11270 that would encourage businesses -- large and small -- to sell NY grown (goods), and produce an income-tax credit based on receipts scale. We all need to take pride in our citizens and businesses ingenuity and incredible capacity to produce high quality products.

Buying locally from small businesses provides jobs that offer adequate compensation for their employees, which feeds back into the economy on even deeper levels. If a worker has access to vacation days, they are able to travel with their family to state parks and other attractions, keeping revenue in the state that funds our schools, hospitals and community projects.

Travelers eat at local restaurants, which use their profits to employ residents of their communities, who in turn can contribute to the state’s economy in the same fashion. In a free and open market, every dollar spent embarks on a cyclical path, and the results are felt on a bafflingly large scale.

This is why it is so important that consumers pass up the allures of “Big Box” stores and stay committed to the products and services being provided by the members of their own communities; every dollar you spend has a ripple effect that will eventually circulate and positively affect you.

As an independent businessperson, I know firsthand the impact of nationwide “Big Box” companies who attempt to impact my own bottom line. I employ eight people in my business, whose jobs are jeopardized by these “Big Box” insurance companies that employ the bare minimum of local residents, if at all. All businesses like mine face a heightened, adversarial impact from national companies located outside NY. The impact requires us all to utilize differing methods of business acumen.

If the power is in the hands of the consumer, this begs the question: what role does the state legislature play in the realm of business? The main responsibility of the state legislature in this area is to create and foster opportunities.

There are multiple approaches to achieving this end and, for New York, the most pressing is creating a more welcoming business environment. Surveys consistently rank New York near the bottom for being business-friendly. As reported by the National Federation of Independent Business, 79 out of 150 (53 percent) New York State Assembly members voted against business interests a staggering 80 percent of the time.

This poor ranking is attributable to stringent regulations and oppressive taxes, which put an undue burden on businesses both large and small. The state legislature plays a key role in setting these unfortunate policies. To truly help strengthen small business and heightened employment, the state legislature must cut taxes, drastically reduce oppressive mandates and put an end to out-of-control state spending.

I have personally sponsored legislation to work with businesses instead of against them, such as my bill to extend the agricultural property tax credit to qualifying farmers, legislation to repeal the $50 registration fee for businesses to collect sales tax and legislation to repeal the 2 percent utility tax.

These actions create a more permissive environment, in which all businesses will have an environment more conducive for success. These changes would particularly help small businesses, as taxes create extra cost that they do not have the capacity to absorb, forcing them either to close their doors or relocate. With the shackles of regulations and taxes relieved, small businesses will be given an opportunity to compete, thrive and innovate in the free market.

The spread of the globalized economy has ushered Big Box stores into communities across the state, threatening the small businesses that are the backbone of our local economies. This shift in the structure of the marketplace must be answered by legislation that supports our small businesses so that they are still able to compete and offer products to consumers. In a free market, consumers have the power to make the choice of supporting local businesses -- our own neighbors.

South Beach owner Ken Mistler announced today that he won't require Suzanne Corona to carry a sign in front of the restaurant saying "I stole from South Beach."

"Her sincere apology was restitution enough for me," Mistler said.

Corona, already facing a public lewdness conviction for her part in a sex act at Farrall Park in June, could have been charged with a felony for trashing the South Beach lunch buffet one afternoon last month. To avoid the charge, she signed a contract with Mistler last week admitting her deed and agreeing to carry the sign for four hours.

Mistler said Corona's husband reached out to him through a mutual friend to ask if during the four-hour walk he could be their to protect his wife from public abuse.

"It was at that point that I realized that this affects more than Suzanne," Mistler said. "It affects her whole family. I can't punish her family for something she did."

Reached this afternoon, Corona said she was grateful to Mistler for his decision.

"That is very wonderful of him," Corona said. "I told this to the media before and it got cut out -- he's a very fair man, a nice man and I respect him very much. I can't thank him enough that he's chosen this direction for my family."

After Corona got out of the hospital following an eight-day stay, she immediately came to Mistler ready to sign the contract, Mistler said. He said he figured that was a hard eight days lying in a hospital bed thinking about what she had done and the anticipation of the walk was probably difficult to think about.

He said he didn't feel the need to ask any more of her.

"She never said she wouldn't do the walk," Mistler said.

While Corona is off the hook for the four-hour "walk of shame," Mistler said he is suggesting to her -- only a suggestion -- that she volunteer for four hours with a local agency such as the animal shelter or help with a charity event.

"I've done that before," Corona said. "I've volunteered in soup kitchens. I've volunteered at a hospice. I can certainly do something for him in that regard. I most certainly will."

If the city were to sell the Falliti Ice Arena, it would have to get at least $450,000 for the 30-year-old facility according to City Manager Jason Molino.

That base price would cover current debt on recent improvements to the facility, the Zamboni ice resurfacer as well as the cost of separating the HVAC and sewer line, which is shared with the Batavia Fire Department headquarters.

Councilwoman Patti Pacino, for one, doesn't think any investor will pay as much as $450,000 for a facility that old and attached to a municipal building. What's more, she's worried that once the building has new owners, they will be under no obligation to provide community services, such as hosting local hockey leagues and high school programs.

What if some day they wanted to turn it into a discotheque, or something else, she mused.

"That (loss of community use of the facility) frightens me," Pacino said.

Councilman Bill Cox  (pictured) said he's pleased with how well things are going with the current management company, but doesn't think the city should own an ice arena.

"The ice arena is (a) great service and it’s enjoyed by people from throughout the county, but it’s not a vital service to the city," Cox said. "I believe we have to get out of areas that really aren't vital city services and involve private business."

Councilman Bob Bialkowski is all for selling the facility. He said he already received calls from local business people supporting the idea of selling it, wondering what the city was doing running an ice rink to begin with.

Technically, the city doesn't run it. For the past four seasons, a management company, Firland, has run the rink, and by all accounts, has done a good job. Firland has made all of its obligated payments to the city, totaling more than $160,000.

If the agreement were renewed -- which Firland wants to do -- the city could expect $400,000 from Firland over the next 11 years, enough to cover debt service, including the $75,000 still owed on the Zamboni machine.

If the city were to sell the facility, Molino said in a report, the sale price might only be four or five times current revenue, or between $300,000 and $400,000.

That's just a guess at this point. If the city were to get serious about selling the arena, a request for proposal would need to be written and an appraisal done -- a process that would cost the city thousands of dollars.

That cost scared off some council members from supporting the RFP process and by consensus, the council went along with a suggestion by Molino that the city generate a request for interest statement and float it around to potential buyers -- just to see if there is a market for the facility.

"It’s not every day that an ice rink goes on the market that’s 30 years old in a rural market like this," Molino said.

City Attorney George Van Nest also cautioned council members that finding a buyer could be difficult.

"There are going to be several strings attached, which is going to make it less attractive to a purchaser," Van Nest said.

Councilman Frank Ferrando said the currant arrangement with Firland seems to be working out well and from what he hears, hockey and ice skating are "booming" at Falleti.

"We need more booming kind of things happening in Batavia," Ferrando said. "I would hate to see us lose that just because we want to get rid of (the building)."

Foreclosure proceedings have begun against 68 county properties because of unpaid taxes, including the Le Roy Pontillo's location, according to County Treasurer Scott German.

Pontillo's owes for three years of back taxes, including school, town, village and county, totaling $24,261.

The delinquent property owners have until Jan. 14 to make final payment on their back taxes to avoid having the property sold at auction.

The auction will be scheduled for some time in March or April.

German said typically, 50 to 55 of the property owners will settle their tax issues prior to foreclosure.

All of the property owners have been sent letters, and notices have been published in two daily newspapers, with additional notifications pending.

This morning, Suzanne Corona met South Beach owner Ken Mistler at a downtown bank and signed a contract agreeing to carry a sign in front of his restaurant for four hours that reads, "I Stole from South Beach."

The contract, Mistler said, is an admission of guilt. In it, Mistler agrees to drop criminal charges against Corona and she holds harmless Mistler, South Beach and all employees from any possible damages.

On Sept. 30, Corona was reportedly caught stuffing food from South Beach's buffet into baggies. When confronted, Corona, according to Mistler, dumped the food back onto the buffet. All of the items on the buffet had to be trashed right at the height of lunch hour.

According to Mistler, the resulting damage was more than $1,000, so Corona was facing a possible felony charge.

The 41-year-old Corona was in City Court briefly this afternoon on her other notorious legal case -- the public lewdness charge she admitted to in August.

Corona, who was initially charged with adultery for having sexual contact with a man not her husband in Farrall Park in June, was scheduled to be sentenced today.

The sentencing was continued until Nov. 24.

Judge Michael Del Plato only said that the proposed sentence "is something not available to me." He also instructed the attorneys on both sides that "what is confidential remains confidential."

A fire on Thursday caused $5,000 in damage and disrupted business for TopLine Shirt Co. But owners Tim Walton and Rob Credi say normal operations will resume on Monday.

Here's their full statement:

TopLine Shirt Co. is set to resume their normal business hours of M-F from 12-5 p.m. starting Monday, Oct. 25 after cleaning up from a recent fire. TopLine had been operating on limited operating hours since a fire occurred at the shop last week.

The fire started around 6:30 on Thursday night when one of the flash ovens malfunctioned and caught fire. The flash oven is a dryer similar to a large heat gun that radiates heat downward to dry ink onto shirts after they are printed.

The fire quickly spread from the dryer and spread to shirts that were on a nearby table, and eventually to a box of cleaning rags that had cleaning chemicals on them. The fire was kept under control, by owner Timothy Walton, who was able to grab a hose that was connected to the washtub in the nearby bathroom and spray it to keep the fire down.

The total damage is estimated to be around $5,000 which includes the loss of an oven, table, heat press and clothing.

Christiano Cellular's downtown Batavia location is offering an exclusive Free Activation incentive for new or existing Verizon Wireless customers. Throughout the month of October, Christiano Cellular will pay your $35 Activation Fee when you activate a new phone with a two-year service agreement at their 23 Jackson St. location.

As a long-standing Verizon Authorized Wireless Retailer, Christiano Cellular is well-equipped with smarter-than-ever phones offering e-mail, broadband and global services; entertainment and productivity Apps; navigation, voice plans, messaging and even social networking!

Join America's Most Reliable Wireless Network and the team at Christiano Cellular will welcome you with Free Activation and Excellent Customer Service. They'll show you a "fascinating and incredible" selection of recommended accessories and provide you with a Free Vehicle Charger (or comparable $29.99 accessory) for your new phone!

Plus, if you switch to Verizon Wireless on a $39.99 Plan or higher before October 31st; you'll also receive a Verizon Wireless $50 Debit Card by mail!

Don't miss these outstanding October offers at Christiano Cellular's downtown Batavia location!

Rick Segel , an author and nationally recognized expert on small-business marketing gave a dynamic presentation to about 50 small-business owners or their representatives today. Comedy is part of Segel's pitch and he generated quite a few laughs during the first session. The program went from 9 a.m. 1 p.m. and was sponsored by the Business Improvement District and the Chamber of Commerce.

Here are four recent news items from the Genesee County Economic Development Center:

• Gov. David Paterson awarded GCEDC a $3.9-million grant to upgrade the short rail line in and around the new Genesee County Agri-Business Park off of Route 5 in the Town of Batavia. The grant money comes from a 2005 bond act for transportation infrastructure in New York. The 202-acre park offers shovel ready industrial land for food processors. Business Facilities Magazine recently named Genesee and Livingston counties as the second-best food processing area in the nation, citing both the Oakta Milk Products facility and the new agri-park in its article.
• National Grid has awarded GCEDC with $275,000 in grants to further the development of the Buffalo East Tech Park in Pembroke. The 300-acre site is adjacent the Pembroke exit of the Thruway, giving the development area easy access to Buffalo and Rochester. Sixty-seven acres of the park are shovel ready for business development.
• Sale-tax exemptions totaling $12,000 were awarded to Bruce Scofield, LLC, for reopening a transfer station and recycling center at 8620 Sanders Road, Stafford. The location will serve area residents and businesses with a facility to dispose of waste and recyclables. The facility has been approved by the DEC to receive 150 tons of solid waste per day and 75 tons of recyclables per day. For every $1 of tax exemption, the project is expected to return $141 in public benefit over the next 10 years. Scofield will invest $150,000 in the project.
• Pineyard Acres, LLC, of 6256 Clinton St. Road, Stafford, is receiving a $29,500 property-tax exemption, a $14,600 sales-tax exemption and a $4,000 mortgage-tax exemption for expansion of its business from 1,400 square feet to 5,600 square feet. For every $1 of tax exemption, the local economy should receive $210 in public benefit over the next 10 years, according to the GCEDC.  Pineyard Acres is expected to invest $335,000 in the expansion.

The Genesee County Emergency Dispatch Center is asking businesses to update contact information that dispatchers need in case of fire, break-in or just a false alarm.

If you own or run a business in Genesee County, including in Batavia, Corfu and Le Roy, you should download the information form and fax it to 343-9129.

The information is kept confidential, according to Steve Sharp, director of emergency communications. It will be used only for the purpose of contacting business owners or key holders in the case of an emergency.

Jerry Arena is planning to open a new bar at property he owns on Park Road. He will call it The Ten Cent Millionaire Tavern. He intends it to be a relaxing, affordable environment for a couple of drinks and maybe some chicken wings or a burger. 

He's already bought an attractive curved -- and very long -- bar for inside and is working on remodeling now.

There are some permits to secure from the Town of Batavia and he will add more space on the back of the building.

If everything goes to plan, he expects to open in the spring. More realistically, he said, he will likely open later in the summer.

Ray England is 70 years old and lives in Albion. He cleans windows for a living and has a handful of clients in Downtown Batavia.

He was on Main Street this afternoon in his top hat and green scarf taking care of some shop windows when I met him.

He uses a contraption that he built himself. It's quite ingenious. One metal poll with a cleaning wand at the end. A tube is connected to the wand and an air-pressure garden sprayer on a pull cart. England can spray water up the tube and onto the window.

One advantage of the system, he said, is that his hands never get wet, so he can easily clean windows in winter.

The squeegee he uses to wipe the water off the windows has a swivel head so he can handle any shape, including rounded edges, of a window.

The idea for the design came to him after he was seriously hurt in an auto accident.

“My arm was broken in three places and split at the wrist," England said. "For two years I couldn’t use this arm. It was dead meat. That’s when the great Lord above, the great engineer, He designed the universe, showed me this idea. I put it together and I’ve been using it ever since."

England claims to have a patent on the design and would like to find a U.S. manufacturer to build it and sell it so Americans could be put to work, but he claims a German company stole his idea and is building the same system out of cheap plastic.

"Mine is made with steal and copper and I sell it for $600," England said. "They sell theirs for $1,700 and if you drop it, it breaks."

If a sellout isn't enough measure of success for the inaugural Taste of Fall Wine Walk in downtown Batavia, the obvious fun all the guests and business owners were having Saturday evening, certainly sealed the deal.

More pictures after the jump (you won't see a frown or a scowl in the bunch!):

Vic Marchese has achieved something few small business owners ever get to claim -- in just five-and-a-half years after opening Main St. Pizza Company, he now owns the building.

"I'm just shocked by how much business we're doing," Marchese said. "It's good. It really is. I'm thankful. I'm thankful to the guy upstairs, I guess."

The success has meant, however, that the original Main St. Pizza space at 206 E. Main St., Batavia, has gotten crowded. Marchese said he needs to expand. He certainly needs to expand the kitchen, he said, but he would also like more seating area.

"It's crazy, but on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday, I'll have 20 or 30 people standing out there," Marchese said.

Marchese has thought about putting in a dining room upstairs, but said it would be more cost effective to open up a dining area in the basement. He would also like to acquire space in front of the building from the city and put in a deck or patio for diners.

Marchese didn't make the building purchase on his own. His nephew, Paul Marchese, owner of Marchese Computers on Ellicott Street, is co-owner of the building.

The acquisition comes just in time for Vic to celebrate National Pizza Month in October, a promotion he's getting fully behind, with one lucky customer becoming eligible to win a big screen TV.

Marchese said he loves food, pizza, especially the pizza business. He's been at it for more than 35 years. He worked 20 years in somebody else's pizza shop, then ran Vic's Doghouse on Park Road for nine years, and now Main St. Pizza.

"I really love what I do," Vic said.

Ken Mistler, whose downtown building ownership dropped from 10 properties to nine with the sale, said it was Vic's idea and he supported it because he believes Marchese will be a  responsible downtown landlord. Mistler noted that if a poor owner got a hold of a building such as the one Vic bought, it could bring down his own property values.

"I was glad to sell it to him because I'm sure he's going to take care of the building," Mistler said. "He will be an asset as a landlord downtown."

I just noticed that after years of the Latina's signs staying up on the vacant Ellicott Street market, the signs are now gone.

While in some cases, the city could cite a property owner for old business signs, City Manager Jason Molino said he doesn't think the signs came down because of any city action. So perhaps Latina's, after a summer of bad publicity over seagulls on the building, finally asked that the signs be taken down.

Meanwhile, owner Tom Lewin appeared in City Court last week. Given that the building is now cleaned up, the charges against Lewin could be dismissed in six months if there are no more violations. (via WIVB)