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PELHAM, N.Y. Columbus Day offers a day off for workers and business owners who labor for a majority of the year. Some owners in Pelham who decided to keep their businesses open found fewer customers than usual.
Richie Bell, owner of Pelham Produce Market, has lived through decades' worth of Columbus Days in his life. This year, he said he experienced the same slowdown as in years past.
"In Pelham, when people are off, it's very slow," Bell said. "It's one of the few days that it's quiet."
Bell's daughter, Lois Soccodato, works at Village Wine and Liquor next door to Pelham Produce Market. Bell said she would make use of the slow day and leave early from work to finish washing windows at her brother's house.
DeCicco Food Market also had a slower stream of customers than usual because of the holiday. Store manager Angelo Lucarelli said that the customers who normally shop in the morning after they drop their children off at school do not usually come into the supermarket on Columbus Day.
The workers who flood the store after they commute back into Pelham from New York City also largely vanish on such a holiday, Lucarelli said.
Columbus Day also affects the days that lead up to it. Lucarelli said the weekend was quieter because some people went out of town. The Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur also played a role, he said, but added that the store was busy on Friday.
Bell said he does not do anything specific to prepare for the inevitable slowdown, but he does have a strategy to get through it.
"We hope Tuesday comes quick," Bell said.
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Contact Pelham reporter Andrew Meola at ameola@thedailypelham.com.
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