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Times Advocate, 1999-09-29, Page 13Wednesday, September 29, 1999 Exeter Times -Advocate 13 Business - Businesses hav By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFf EXETER _ According to local businesses, last week's International Plowing Match was good news and bad news. While some businesses said they experienced a ' big increase in business, others were disappointed. In Zurich, the news was good. Mike Ryckman, owner of .Erb's Country Kitchen, said his restau- rant on Main Street saw business increase by. 400 per cent during the plow- ing match. He said night time was the busiest for the restaurant, and added that many times cus- tomers were lined up waiting for tables. He explained that Erb's was ready for the busi- ness because it had been warned ahead of time that business would be brisk. Down the street at Dominion Dining Loun , manager Myrna.iomas said business was "very good," although she said she expected it would be. busier. Daytime at the Dominion was quiet, she said, with business pick- ing up at night. To prepare for the extra customers Thomas said extra food, liquor and supplies were stocked. She added she was sur- prised to see visitors from as far away as Ottawa and Peterborough. Both Ryckman and Thomas agree Zurich's annual Bean Festival is a bigger event for business in the village, although Thomas said traffic was heavy in Zurich all week. In Exeter, the news was- n't so good. Bob Gehan, owner of V&S Department Store, said business actu- ally decreased slightly mimed reaction to plowing match • . • ^-�t�- L.. ; mato. '"f; '{mak '!• i; + uring. the plowing match cause many of his legal shoppelis were at the plowing match instead of shopping at his store. Gehan said he even stayed open late in anticipation of extra business, but he didn't get it. 1 thought for sure I was going to be busy and it just didn't happen." Commenting on signs on Highway 4 re-routing traf- fic around Exeter, , Gehan said he didn't think that had an effect on business. Gar Penhale .of Gar's Bar and Grill on Main Street said he expected a lot more business from the plowing ,match crowd. He said business was actually slower than nor- mal during the day, but there was a strong supper crowd. Penhale said while bis suppliers repeatedly told him he would have a \;:•:Y,•",h•y�as:'4�•`•\,}•'.'-•^� "".�i;,fi<,,w•:.y.. ,ass Aa kS: ik • '\c'�"'��.}+:.•'�'4 �.`: X S}i :_.:,•'.i%''{',:{:J:2cs'��,••-}��;,t,,K, n{C:��C+y J.}:. \?t��k-v'•i;K k�:L O:•}jc,. :.1.;.�}' ��`' } •%fii:<!{r-<'c;:>441zaws SH1PKA •• 4**r CREDITON Traffic to the International Plowing Match was diverted away from Exeter. Posted signs instructed cars to turn off Highway 4 south of Exeter and drive through Crediton and head up Hwy. 2 north to Dashwood.Traffic was also re-routed_, around Grand Bend. Some businesspeople the TA spoke to said this hurt busi- ness. Lucan Biddulph to talk more about hydro issue 1.UCAN BIDDULPH — Council is confused about what it should do with the Lucan Granton Hydro Electric . Commission. Reeve Earl French told council at its Sept. 21 meeting he thinks council should again sit down and discuss the hydro issue --- whether or not to sell it — to make sure everyone on council understands the options and has the cor- rect information. At council's Sept. 7 meeting council decided to delay for six months a decision on whether or not to sell its hydro, giving the current commission a chance to submit a busi- ness plan and show coun- cil why • it shouldn't sell. The business plan will . attempt to convince COO - Cil it shotld incorporate its .hydte &nI bun it as it business. Last month consultants KPMG estimated the municipality could sell for up to $1.2 million. French admitted to council he was originally prepared to sell the hydro but now said he's con,. fused about the issues and wants to talk to Coun- cil more , about the sub- ject. In addition to talking about council's options on hydro, council will be scheduling a public meet- ing so ratepayers can offer their opinions .on.. whether the municipality - should sell its hydro. A.B. Case Plumbing & Heating Si weals stmt, rest o+. (519) 2351404 Sheet metal, propane and natural gas, heating and ah conditioning, gas *solaces and 11npfs, water heaters busy weY he's disap- pointed with the results. And referring to the signs re-routing traffic around Exeter. he said they "sure didn't help" businesses in town. It wasn't all bad news, though, Jamie McLeod, co-owner of the Shall B In of Centralia, said she "had a really good week" at her bed and breakfast. In fact, business was so good McLeod even gave up her own bedroom and slept on the couch. She said she was booked solid from Sept. 18-24 and was satis- fied with the week. "We had an excellent bunch," she said. Amy Cassell of Sunoco Inc. on Main Street in Exeter said the gas bar. did "really good" business during the plowing match week and said there was: a steady stream of cars getting gas. She said she knows many of her cus- tomers last week were heading to the plowing match because they had plowing matchparking stickers on their cars. Doug Nutt, of Doug and Nancy's General Store in Dashwood said he is "quite a bit disappointed," with how his business did during the plowing match. While business increased about 25 per cent, he said he expected business would increase twofold. He .blamed the disap- pointing business on the fact traffic was diverted around communities. I#°e added the same thing happened in Grand Bend, where traffic was re-rout- ed away from Hwy. 21 towards Greenway. Angela Lewis of Gifts and Scripts in Grand Bend agreed with Nutes assess- , ment of traffic re-routing. She said villagers are used to a lot of traffic during the long weekends but Amy Cassell of Sunoco in Exeter said business at the gas bar improved during the International Plowing Match last week. traffic during the plowing match wasn't heavy. She said Gifts and Scripts did get some extra business from the plowing match, but not as much as they expected. She added that the store stayed open late at night to catch people driving home from the match but it wasn't worth it. Tony Korianitis of the Three Boys Restaurant in Hensall, though, was pleased with business last week,, saying business improved by at least 50 per cent. He said there were many customers from outside the area, including a family from Holland. TREE SPADE SERVICE JEFF DALRYMPLE Bus. 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Serving the community and area /or OW 40 yeah;. j REPAIRS l Sewing Machine Repairs to all makes Fns **Donates 90 Day Warranty Exp.r tacsd sham 1952 Sew and Save Centre Ltd. 149 Downie St., Stratford Phone 271-9660