Gaylen Young column: Entrepreneurs succeed
| Monday, Nov 09 2009 03:57 PM
Last Updated Monday, Nov 09 2009 03:57 PM
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Gaylen Young
Felix Adamo / The Californian Tom Burch of Henley's Photo.
I was in Salt Lake City to visit and my son asked me to help him shoot his engagement and wedding photos. I couldn’t decide if he was trying to use my photographic expertise or if he was just desperate for someone to click the shutter after he framed each shot. I’m sure now it was the latter since he shoots weddings professionally when he’s not filming TV news for a station in Salt Lake.
He chose one location, where my wife and I had our wedding pictures taken many years ago, as well as a sunset photo at the Great Salt Lake. It was really nice, but it once again reminded me that the run-down lake is no Pacific Ocean.
He’s developed his photography business from the hobby he started while he was in Bakersfield.
He used to visit Henley’s on H Street for film and camera equipment during those early years, along with many other photography enthusiasts.
Henley’s is celebrating 60 years of business this year. Joe Henley purchased the business from the Forman family in 1948 and changed the name to Henley’s Photo the following year. It was originally at 17th Street and Chester Avenue, but Henley relocated to 2000 H St., across from the Fox Theater, in 1977.
Ten years before, Tom Burch went to work for Henley’s and has since taken the helm as president and general manager.
“We’ve really had to roll with the punches the past couple of years,” Burch said. He cites as an example the fact that some specialty photo dealers believed film was never going to be replaced.
But this year Kodak stopped making “Kodachrome” film because so many had switched to digital cameras. As a result, most of those “film-only” dealers are now gone.
“That has meant we’ve had to adapt. Now we’re selling digital cameras and we’re making prints from digital media. So the business has changed quite a bit,” Burch said. “But we’re still dealing with people’s memories.”
Compounding the problem of changes in the photographic industry is the sour economy. Over the past six years Henley’s has been forced into reductions, going from 14 full-time employees to just seven.
“So the economy has really hurt us. When you have really quiet days, you know, you begin to wonder how you’re going to pay the bills. Hopefully we’re going to be here in a year from now,” Burch said.
Burch said his business gets a shot in the arm every year when Bakersfield College goes back into session; photography students come for supplies.
With so many sources for photographic supplies and cameras online and at bigbox stores, it’s nice to know real people with expertise are available to answer questions to keep that industry alive.
Now you have to look nice for those wedding photos, and what better way to do that than with a nice hairstyle, make-up and even a massage.
That leads me to my next business of the month, a hidden gem of a downtown salon that’s quietly expanded.
I first encountered Peggy Mizener a few years ago after she opened A Basket Case on H Street just south of California Avenue.
In a little home turned into a shop, she made gift baskets for people and corporations. I bought one of her creations for my daughter’s wedding. They were wonderfully creative ideas, gifts that were different than typical options at most stores.
But the economy soon took its toll on that business and as her lease expired, she closed up shop and moved on.
A few years ago, Mizener owned Panosh, a salon off Office Park Drive, before she sold it and moved to Orange County. She returned to Bakersfield to open her basket shop. But with the ongoing economic decline, Bella Donna Salon, just behind the Fox Theater at 20th and H streets, seemed like the perfect “recession-proof” business.
“Originally it was only about 1,200 square feet with a couple of hair stylists and a manicurist. But around Christmas last year I took on another 1,400 square feet, took out one of the walls and this has allowed me to now have 10 hairdressers, three manicurists, massage therapists and a person to do facial work,” Mizener said.
She still makes gift baskets on the side, but the salon keeps her busy. She also started a T-shirt company called “Here Kitty, Kitty Apparel Company,” which has a children’s line and a line for women.
The salon is open Tuesday through Saturday, and open until 10 p.m. Friday nights to participate with the First Friday events sponsored by the Downtown Business Association.
Even with the lousy state and national economies, it’s nice to see entrepreneurs who work to succeed when the odds are against them.
I believe the best thing you can do to bring the economy out of the cellar is to shop locally and help those brave souls who have put their lives on the line as local business owners. It will help not only our downtown begin to thrive again, but also will help the county and state economies.
