"The other day I had a customer ask me, 'You actually plant in the summer?'
We plant all year long here. But you have to be very aware of the plants' water needs and doing the installation work with that. One day without water and they'll be dead.
The other issue we have is human, our employees, because of the heat and they're working outside.
We have a safety class on heat exhaustion, what the symptoms are and how to prevent it. We need to take care of our employees, first and foremost."
Jan Marshall
Vice president,
Arcadia Landscape Inc.,
2002 E. 13th St.
"I do family reunions pretty much in the summer, probably more so than in the rest of the year. I'm a seasonal business, I don't operate too much throughout the rest of the year. But I get a lot of repeat business from families who have used me before."
People are also reading…
Gloria Smith
Owner,
Heritage Tours Trailstones
Heritage Adventures,
7739 E. Broadway, Suite 195
"Definitely, the summer affects our business. The wedding business is seasonal and people don't get married in the summer in Tucson. . . . I think like other businesses in town, we struggle. We have to cut back hours and sometimes we close a little early. By the end of September, it picks back up again because October is a very busy month. Usually August is the worst month."
Jennifer Cowgill
Owner,
Maribelle Cakery,
3308 E. Grant Road
"I'm down at the university area, so once school is out and the conferences slow down at the Marriott, it begins to affect me. I've changed my hours to reflect that. I'm normally open from 10 to 6, and now I'm only open until 3. I also stop ordering as much, and then I pick up again in August . . . when people begin to return. This is my time of year when I will take off for a couple days and close down completely, which I don't get to do the rest of the year.
Lisa Milne
Owner,
Azure Skies Global Gifts,
808 E. University Blvd.
"Because we're a gym, our business is affected in the summer — majorly by the student population, because the students going away in the summer and we're located close to the U of A and Pima. It is a gym, so it does get hot. We're pretty consistent most of the time, but those two things are our biggest challenges during the summer.
We're having an in-house event in June — an exhibition boxing match. We also have student summer specials, because I know that there are students who will be in town, and we have some fliers and we're thinking of making a commercial."
Charles Caraway
Manager,
Boxing Inc. Max,
1240 N. Stone Ave.
Question of the Week gives local people a chance to examine issues affecting the business community.