Howard Chait, co-owner of Goldmine Jewelry in Cedarhurst offers a different perspective. “We are a local business, so a lot of our customers are local, too,” Chait said. “Traffic flow is greater and much more so than it was last year. We have a steady stream of customers in our store all day. In fact, I noticed that I haven’t even been taking lunch breaks as I used to do, as our store has gotten so busy. People come in for other services, such as watches fixed, jewelry cleanings, and watch battery replacements. They see our collection, and decide to buy more.”
Goldmine Jewelers only has a couple of people on staff, so they’re not as concerned with store closing procedures. A travel ban doesn’t affect them, as they are a local business easily accessible by foot. When Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012, they had two weeks of no business, Chait said. “Sandy was a downer for everybody. We are already doing better business-wise than we were last year due to Sandy alone. Snowfall is nothing compared to Sandy. I think that in comparing snowstorms to Hurricane Sandy, because our clientele is local, they are just tired of being stuck inside from the weather and are happy to be able to come out to shop this year.”
“We’re resilient here in the Five Towns,” Chait said. “We are seeing a nice recovery.”

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