Chamber Of Commerce Head Optimistic About Economy

Sonora, CA — Sonora lost its Mervyns store late last year after the chain went out of business, and now there is uncertainty regarding Gottschalks in light of the announcement that the company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

“Locally, both Mervyns and Gottschalks have outperformed a lot of their other stores in California,” says Tuolumne County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO George Segarini. “It is probably because they have not had the competition that they would have, at say a mall in Modesto.”

With all of the negative reports surrounding the national economy, Segarini feels there are things to be optimistic about in Tuolumne County. He says that many small businesses report that they are doing better in early 2009 than they did in 2008.

“A lot of the service type businesses are doing quite well at this point,” adds Segarini. “We have an electrical supply company doing quite well and there is a whole variety of small businesses in the community that continue to do business as good or better than ever.”

Segarini says that many businesses are looking at Tuolumne County as a place to expand. He points out that a new grocery store should open in the Junction Shopping Center within the next 60 days, Walmart is expanding its current facility and Lowe´s continues to work towards building a Sonora store.

Written by BJ Hansen