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TCBusiness.com 7
with remarkable covers, and she got the
idea for making protective masks and selling
them from Notions & Potions.
Within three days, she had 400 orders.
Soon, she ran out of elastic and fabric,
which was nearly impossible to find back
in the days before the supply chain for
such things was righted. It was also a time
when medical mask prices shot up and
panic buying set in.
“I was cutting up $60 leggings for ear
pieces for the masks,” Muise said.
Her buddy, Christina Gibbons, owner
of Varsity Sports Shop, which is just steps
away from Notions & Potions, stepped in
to help “and saved my ass,” Muise said.
Gibbons has six embroidery machines
that smoothed the production. They
designed a washable mask that sold at
first for $7 but they couldn’t make money
at that price so it went up to $10, and they
could hardly keep up with demand.
Muise also makes a bandana-type of
mask that protects while allowing for easy
breathing that sells for $19. Sales have
fallen off in the past few months, but they
are still being produced.
“The store would have died without
those masks,” says Muise, who made at
least 2,000 of them.
SALES SLIP IN APRIL, REBOUND
IN MAY
Gross sales in March fell 8.7% for retail
businesses on the Treasure Coast and
8.5% for all business sectors in the three
counties, at $1.82 billion. Activity in April
was slower, shown by a drop of 18% for
all business sectors and of 24.7% for retail
businesses, according to a Treasure Coast
Business analysis of gross sales figures
reported by the Florida Department of
Revenue.
Sales fell again in May for Treasure Coast
retailers, by a collective 9.4%, and June
showed the first year-over-year increase,
up 1.1%, since February.
The Florida Department of Revenue
issues county and statewide reports
monthly on gross sales and taxable sales.
There are more than 80 business categories.
For the purposes of calculating retail
merchant sales, Treasure Coast Business
included the 12 largest retail categories
reported by the state, which did not
include restaurants, bars, liquor stores,
grocery stores, or the sale of automobiles
or automotive accessories.
Among the dozen biggest retail segments
by sales, the largest by far is termed
general merchandise, which includes sales
from the big-box stores, but can include
some wholesale sales. Still, it is a good
guide to the business environment for retail.
This segment accounts for two-thirds
of sales for the dozen retail categories
statewide. Second in terms of sales in the
latest month reported, June, in Florida
were stores selling consumer electronics,
then apparel stores and fourth was home
furniture retailers.
The hardest-hit individual retail segment
on the Treasure Coast in April was apparel,
which fell 94% from the previous year in
Martin County, 91% in Indian River County
and 33% in St. Lucie County. Furniture
sales were down about 50 percent in each
county, and electronics store sales fell 56%
in Martin, 52% in Indian River and 25% in
St. Lucie. Sales declines of general merchandise
were not as steep, from 6% down
in St. Lucie and a 17% decrease in Indian
River, reflecting the relative strength of the
big-box stores.
Once May arrived and stores reopened
to in-person shopping, those sharp declines
were followed by massive gains, not
quite to year-ago levels, but impressive.
Gains in May over the April nadir for apparel
were 740% in Martin at $4.28 million;
nearly 400% for Indian River, at $4.82 mil
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/TCBusiness.com
