Several Columbia businesses remain open on holiday

Maria Rivas, far left, inspects her purchase while her daughter, Mariana Limón, center, looks over her shoulder at the carniceria that is part of Los Cuates restaurant on Paris Road in Columbia on Labor Day. Pablo Rico S., the butcher, is here to work for a few years and plans to return to his family in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico, where his parents own a chain of carnicerias. ¦ SUZY LAFFERTY/Missourian

Although Labor Day was initially designed to give workers time off, many Columbia businesses remained open Monday with hopes of catching the occasional shopper looking for an open door.

Patty Holmstrom, manager at Britches Clothing on Ninth Street, said good customer traffic on previous Labor Days led her to believe it would be worthwhile to remain open Monday.

“We wanted to pick up business we wouldn’t have otherwise, since we were one of the only stores that chose to be open,” Holmstrom said, while folding some of the store’s clothing.

Although she found employees to staff the store, which was open from noon to 5 p.m. on the holiday, Holmstrom said most workers wanted to take a long holiday to travel home.

Liana Cecil, a four-year employee of Tiger Spirit, also located on Ninth Street, based her decision to remain open on this weekend’s business. “My bosses left it up to me,” Cecil said. “We had good weekend sales, so I decided to try it. Yesterday, people were lined up waiting to get in.”

Cecil said Tiger Spirit’s business increased recently with the beginning of football season and with the conclusion of MU’s sorority recruitment. Cecil said the morning’s business was “a little slower,” with more patrons just looking.

When asked what she missed by working on Labor Day, Cecil said with a laugh, “Laying by the pool.”

Although some businesses remained open to pick up extra customers during the holiday, other businesses remained opened for different reasons. The Joe Machens Toyota dealership, located on Bernadette Drive, was open on Labor Day to participate in the Muscular Dystrophy Association Sell-A-Thon.

Ramon Dearmas, a sales manager, said he hoped the dealership would experience the usual flow of business “to raise a lot of money.”

Dearmas said he spent the weekend with his family and was not concerned about working on the holiday.