Why would, and how can, a small business shut down for a week? What's the thinking in turning off the cash register and locking the doors when there's money to be made?

More than a few small businesses in Greater Fall River chose to do just that for the recently passed July 4 holiday week. For some, it's a tradition; for others, it was the first time.

We talked to the owners/managers of four area businesses who chilled out the first full week of July and asked them all about playing the business vacay game.

Across the board, it was agreed that taking time to relax and recharge the batteries is well worth any short-term economic loss. Two of the businesses are bakeries, another a restaurant, and the fourth, interestingly, a jewelry store.

Here's our roster for this story:

• Gabe Martins, manager, Sam's Bakery, Flint Street, Fall River.

• Nancy Remy, owner, Nancy’s Bakery, County Street, Somerset.

• Kerry and Elroy Lazaro, Myles Neilan, owners, The Comfort Zone bar and grille, Riverside Avenue, Somerset.

• Pierre and Nancy Plante, owners, Plante Jewelers, Swansea Mall Drive, Swansea

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Worth the revenue hit

“Although we lose the revenue,” Elroy Lazaro said, “the benefits and free time outweigh the loss and potential sales.”

The Lazaros vacationed on Cape Cod with their children and their one grandchild.

“When you're self-employed, you can't create free time during a normal work week,” Elroy added. “We take one day off per week, Tuesday, and often we book private events for that day if requested.”

“The beach is my happy place,” Kerry Lazaro said. “Gives you peace of mind and you come back with a better attitude and ready to go at it again.”

“Some recuperation, recharge the batteries, come back and get to it,” Neilan said.

Nancy's Bakery has been in business for 19 years, and she generally takes the week from Christmas to New Year's off; 2022 marks the first time Remy has taken a summer vacay break as well. The workaholic said she has no regrets.

“It's very important to take at least a little time to get a break, because you come up with new ideas and you just need time to revitalize,” she said from her bakery, locally and regionally famous for its cakes and cupcakes.

Those are the pros. The cons?

“You're loyal customers will always come back,” she said. “but there's always things that you're afraid of missing. But other than that, sometimes it's good for your mental health.”

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Choosing a week when many customers are traveling anyway

Famous for its meat pies, Sam's Bakery traditionally turns off its ovens and shuts its doors during the week of July 4.

“That's the week that everybody goes away,” a flour-covered Martins said in front of the store on the first post-vacation Friday morning. “Fourth of July, you go on vacation. You know how many millions of people travel that week? That's the week we figured it would be best for us to close down. The help would like to celebrate the Fourth of July, too. So we picked that week.”

Sam's, Martins said, used to also close down for a week in January but ceased that practice many years ago due to customer demand. “Things got so busy,” he said. “We worked so hard the day before we closed, and when we come back, it's not even worth it sometimes.”

Favored by many repeat customers, Plante Jewelers annually pulls off its week shutdown without a hitch. Pierre Plante said his loyal customers know the store will be closed that week and many of them are also on vacation. The Plantes send out email reminders.

“Most customers say 'Good for you.' They're glad you do it,” Nancy Plante said.

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“We do a lot of things to make sure everybody knows,” Pierre Plante said, “and we try to find out ahead of time if people have special occasions that might happen that week, and we kind of get everybody on board before we actually close.”

But do they actually stay away from work?

As far as actually staying away from the business during the shutdown, the results were mixed. The Lazaros were away on the Cape. The staycationing Plantes confessed to dropping by one day to do some work. Remy said she popped into the store a couple of days late in the week after her crew had taken care of some tasks.

Asked if he popped into Sam's Bakery during vacation week, Martins quickly responded in the negative.

“I get away from this place as far as I can,” he said. “Where's there's no people, nothing. The mountains is usually my favorite spot.”

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Summer vacation: why some Fall River area businesses close for a week