The Fallen Arch owner Gail Joseph and Bob Tysen help a customer on Friday, June 6. Amidst economic uncertainty and fluctuations in visitors, they consider themselves lucky to have loyal customers. (Enterprise photo — Grace McIntyre)

LAKE PLACID — To some in Lake Placid, this spring has seemed especially quiet, with fewer Canadian visitors on the streets and some weeks of less-than-ideal weather. Business owners and tourism statistics for the area report mixed results, but many are hopeful for a strong summer visitor season.

The Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism keeps an eye on a number of metrics, which help their in-house marketing team promote the region to prospective visitors. ROOST Chief Operating Officer Mary Jane Lawrence said their numbers do reflect a relatively slow spring.

The year-to-date occupancy for lodging properties in Essex County is about the same, Lawrence said, but the average daily rate is down a few percentage points compared to previous years. However, there are a number of factors that contribute to this.

“We had the eclipse here last year, which was a great boost in occupancy and occupancy rate,” she said. “We had a beautiful May last year, I’m sad to report that that is not happening this year, and the weather does definitely impact our business.

“At the end of the day, people come here to be outside,” she added.

However, numbers also point to a continued decrease in Canadian tourism. The main metric ROOST has for the interest of Canadians in visiting the Adirondacks is web traffic, which Lawrence said is down about 25%. Anecdotally, they continue to hear from Lake Champlain marinas and lodging properties that Canadian visitors are down.

The North Country Chamber of Commerce, which has been keeping an especially close eye on Canadian visitation and cross-border relations since January, reported a significant drop in border crossing numbers. Chamber President Garry Douglas reported that in February, visitation was down by 16% and by March, it was down 31% compared to the previous year.

“We also cannot define the relative degree to which three factors are all affecting cross-border travel,” Douglas wrote in a statement mid-April. “But it is a combination of a poor exchange rate for Canadians, a broad sense of hurt among Canadians and the 25% surcharge imposed by Canada at the border as part of retaliatory tariffs.”

–

Leaning on loyalty

–

Bob Tysen of the Fallen Arch, the renowned shoe store with a presence on Main Street for nearly 30 years, said they feel particularly lucky and well-situated to weather difficult economic moments. He estimates that about 25% of their customers are Canadian, and said they have seen a drop of about 10% in these visitors.

However, decades of expertise and a loyal customer base pay off, even in times of economic uncertainty. Tysen said that while they have noticed the lack of visitors from Ottawa and Montreal, they have customers from as far away as Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia who consistently come to the Fallen Arch for shoes.

“We’re lucky, because the least expensive thing to do, recreation-wise, is walk or run,” he said.

Even as a trade war rages and prices of goods increase, Tysen said they feel confident in the value they are able to provide for customers. With the combined experience in the industry and in athletics (Tysen’s many athletic achievements include several running records), they end up with customers who are referred to them by doctors. He is also well-situated to help older customers with their unique needs, compared to younger sellers. He knows what it’s like to be old, he jokes.

“I started running when I was 9 and I’m 69, so imagine that — 60 years of running,” he said. “The experience — you can’t put a price on that.”

Marc Galvin, owner of The Bookstore Plus and president of the Lake Placid Business Association, said their spring season yielded mixed results. Their sales were boosted by some large orders from schools and a big book release, but he said February felt like a slow month. Galvin is also among the business owners who have noted a lack of Canadian visitors during the normal spring break times.

“It’s no secret that Canadians were canceling trips and they just weren’t around,” Galvin said.

On the other hand, word on the street is that there were some Canadians who returned for the Lake Placid Marathon last weekend. He said they also had a great Memorial Day weekend, which was “encouraging.”

And like the Fallen Arch, Galvin said they also benefit from a loyal group of customers.

“We have people who don’t live here, but come to Lake Placid to buy their books,” he said. “We feel very fortunate in that and we obviously put the work in to build that.”

However, there is a contingency of store owners, especially those who own clothing stores, who report having more trouble. A few came to a recent public hearing held by the village board and expressed that they were having a hard time getting people in the door.

–

Summer is critical

–

ROOST is seeing some early signs of hope for the summer. For one thing, there seems to be a lack of interest in air travel caused by a combination of bad press after numerous high-profile crashes and economic concerns. Lawrence said these concerns can actually end up helping destinations like the Adirondacks that attract more visitors by car and can be seen as lower-budget vacation options.

The organization is also always on the lookout for new markets and aims to tailor marketing to new and more specific groups of people. For instance, they’ve tried to find ways to market to people living in various areas outside New York City, like New Jersey and Connecticut. They’ve also noticed an increase in traffic from Florida and other southern states.

“People want out of those hotter places in the summer,” Lawrence said. “There’s places you can’t even go outside in the summer.”

From a marketing perspective, it makes a lot of sense to invite those people to the Adirondacks. As June rolls on, time will tell whether this summer will be a success.

Galvin said that in his 20 years of running the bookstore, he’s learned that summer is a critical indicator of how the year is going to go, even more so than the shoulder season. Once schools let out, that’s when they’ll have a better idea of the year’s trajectory.

“A soft spring’s not going to wreck your year, but if you’re a little bit off in the summer, that definitely can,” he said.