While Athens has lost businesses like the Futon Shop and Wear Else

in the past year, Larry Payne, president of Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, said it is not the result of high turnover rates in the area.

The turnover rates for business in Athens actually been decreasing in the past couple of years, Payne said.

He said the hardest time for any business is the first three years.

If the business can stay open beyond the three years and especially to the five-year mark, it will usually be around for awhile, Payne said.

"It takes the first couple of years to recoup some of your investment and to establish your client base," Payne said. "A business usually starts turning a profit after five years."

The more common trend in Athens is for businesses to last longer than five years, he said.

"While of course not all businesses in the area last this long, the turnover rate is lower than it has been in the past, especially on Court Street," Payne said.

He said this definitely could have a lot to do with how strong the economy has been in the last couple of years, along with the idea that Athens is less prone to suffering from a recession than a lot of other areas.

Those factors could be attributed to the number and types of jobs that exist in Athens, Payne said.

"There are a lot of service-related, government, university and state jobs that exist in the Athens area," he said. "There are so many jobs here that most people don't even know about, plus we have the university," Payne said.

"Even if the economy goes bad, the government jobs will still be there," he said.

Deb McBride, director of the Small Business Development Center, deals with businesses in Athens, Hocking, Perry and Meigs counties.

McBride said she agrees with Payne that the turnover rates for most businesses in Athens, especially the ones located on Court Street, are fairly consistent with other areas in the Southeastern Ohio region.

"In most cases, Court Street has stayed fairly stable over the years," she said.

McBride said that another trend in the Athens area is that businesses that are fairly hard to open don't seem to have much of a problem lasting in Athens.

"The harder businesses to start, like restaurants, seem to stick around for a while," she said.

One Athens restaurant, Lam's Garden, 934 E. State St., has been open for about 19 years.

On Lam, one of the owners, said he thinks the reason most businesses last is not so much the location, but rather the product they can offer to customers.

"While students at Ohio University do seem to contribute to our business, I think it is more the product we continue to offer to our customers," Lam said.

"If you have something good, people will keep coming back, and the business will stay open," he said.