Three stores have closed on one block of downtown Tooele in recent months, with two other store fronts on the same block unoccupied and now for sale, slowing what appeared to be a revival for downtown.

Tooele City officials claim the closings are part of the normal business cycle. The closures provide a reason to search for new stores for downtown, but it’s not a crisis, according to Mayor Patrick Dunlavy.

“Of course the city is interested in the health of businesses in the city, but closures happen during good as well as bad economic times,” Dunlavy said. “This is a normal process that has been exacerbated by the current state of the economy. We will continue to look for and encourage more stores to locate downtown.”

The Tooele Overstock Store, which opened at 5 N. Main in October 2009, closed in the middle of June. Anything Cute, a non-profit thrift store that supported the New Hope House at 33 N. Main, closed this month and the space is for lease. Sandee Julz, a clothing, accessories and jewelry store located at 19 N. Main Street, has a large for lease sign in their front window and will close July 30, according to store owner Dick Haskell.

Owners of the closing stores put most of the burden for their closure on the economy.

“It may be partly the location but the biggest factor is the economy,” Haskell said. “I have kept the store open as long as I can but just can’t do it anymore. With people having to choose between the frivolous and the essential, our sales are down.”

New Hope House staff said they were having trouble finding volunteers to work at Anything Cute and the store was not producing the income to make keeping it open worthwhile.

Empty stores include a former psychic reading shop at 17 N. Main and another at 15 N. Main Street, which are for sale. The former Sweat Fitness location at 34 S. Main also has a for sale sign posted.

Surviving shop owners say the empty stores have not affected their business.

“My business has slowed down as business has for many stores all over, but we are still doing good,” said Samuel Berumen, who owns the Zacatecas Market that opened three years ago on the northeast corner of Vine and Main.

Berumen said the closed stores have not affected his sales because his regular customers still come and shop and know when the store will be open.

“I keep regular hours from 8 to 10 everyday,” he said. “I watch as some stores open and close during the day. People come to shop and the store is closed. Then the owner returns and opens and there are no shoppers.”

Wendy Conklin, manager of Sweet Pea Boutique at 49 S. Main, said the downtown area is far from a ghost town and that the shops that are open remain vibrant.

“The post office brings us a lot of foot traffic, along with a group of shoppers that have a routine. They hit our store, then up the street to Homebodies, then across the street for a stop at Home Touch and then on to Sweet Lizzies,” Conklin said.

At The Home Touch, a crafters showroom that just celebrated its fifth year of business, store employee Joyce Mead, who has worked at stores in that location for nine years, offered her insights on longevity in the downtown area.

“Parking has been a problem since they did away with parking on Main Street,” she said. “Here at Home Touch we stress honest service, a clean store, and quality merchandise. The empty stores don’t affect us because we have a clientele built up through our reputation and word-of-mouth advertising.”

Tooele County’s Economic Development Director Nicole Cline said closing stores are not unusual in the business world.

“Studies tell us that 90 percent of start-up businesses close within the first five years,” Cline said. “Reasons for closure vary but often revolve around not having enough capital to survive the start-up period, a product or service that is not in demand or has an oversupply, or not clearly identifying their target market.”

The business resource center at the county economic development office is designed to help new and existing businesses become stronger and lower that 90 percent failure rate, according to Cline.

The stores that last downtown are those that find a niche market, offer something unique and develop a group of loyal customers, according to Dunlavy.

But according to Haskell, existing stores on Main Street may still see hard times ahead, depending on the economy.

“Many of the small stores in Tooele have been just barely holding on as the economy kept getting worse,” Haskell said. “There may be more stores that can’t make it as time goes on if the economy doesn’t get better soon.”

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com