The challenge to survive in tough economic times is only compounded when you have a business to run.
Two Connecticut companies that have been around for awhile are meeting the challenge, but it’s not easy.
“It’s terrible. I can’t understand how everything just stopped. It’s tough to pay the bills," Donald Tinty, owner of Tinty's Furniture Store in Bristol, said.
Tinty’s father opened Tinty's in 1981. Now business is slow. Tinty said his customers are worried about feeding their children.
He will stay open because he made his father a promise.
"I'm 80 years old now. My father worked until he was 98. I told him I'd work one more year than him ... So I have 20 more years to go," Tinty said.
And retailers are not alone in their struggles.
Business
Robert Naboicheck, the owner of Gold Bond Mattress in Hartford, said he is noticing how bad things are.
"Walk thorough the malls, there are 70 percent off signs everywhere. ... This is the worst it’s been since the Great Depression," he said.
Gold Bond has been making its own futons and furniture for 110 years. Sales are down by 25 percent and he had to cut his workforce by 50 percent.
Naboicheck said he is confident his company will get through the recession but only by running a smart business.
