Nov. 30--Despite the gathering economic gloom, some new businesses are popping up in Tucson.

The owners think they have something to offer that will make them recession-proof -- or at least see them through the hard times.

Whether these optimistic entrepreneurs are seeing beyond the gloom or looking through rose-colored glasses depends on what they have to offer, says Melinda Burke, of the University of Arizona's Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing.

"I would say regardless of what is happening in the economy, there are ebbs and flows which will create opportunity if the price is right," Burke said.

For example, she notes, the recent hard times have helped Campbell's Soup sales.

"It's about shifting market share," said Burke. "As luxury is losing market share, demand for mid- and low-market (products and services) is increasing."

But in one case, a new Frost Gelato that just opened at La Encantada, co-owner Jeffrey Kaiserman hopes it is luxury -- "a small luxury" -- that helps people make it through the hard times. Kaiserman says people still need their pleasures, even in hard times, and he hopes gelato makes the cut in frugal family finance. All the business owners interviewed for this story said they were keenly aware of the current economic conditions.

But each said they had some edge that would not only help them beat the odds against success for new businesses -- grim even in boom periods -- but get them through the projected hard times: athletic videos that might land a high school athlete a college scholarship; martial-arts lessons for children, the last members of the family on which parents want to skimp; auto repairs, a service that can't be avoided totally; locally grown organic foods, a product for an extremely committed clientele; gelato, a small luxury so low-priced it might make the cut even when frugal families trim other expenses. Local Harvest Marketplace

Sherry Luna and Philip Ostrom are betting their location will pull their locally grown, organic produce shop through early hard times.

The Local Harvest Marketplace, a convenience store-sized retail space at 3954 E. Speedway, is near neighborhoods where patrons are likely to live and between Whole Foods and Sunflower Market -- two places that Local Harvest Marketplace's customers are likely to patronize.

"If it fails, it won't be because of the location," says Luna.

Yes, Luna says, they did consider the economic indicators pointing to a severe recession.

"But my husband said, 'We have the money set aside, people have to eat, let's go ahead.'"

And, says Luna, customers for organic products are not easily moved from what is a lifestyle, not just a consumer choice.

"People who eat organic really want to eat organic," Luna says.

They should know. Ostrom and Luna are the longtime owners of New Harvest Organics of Rio Rico, a distributor of organic regional produce. Before that, they owned a company, High Country Sprouts, that produced and delivered organic alfalfa sprouts to many of Arizona's big grocery stores for several years.

Full Story: http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2008/11/30/3821863.htm