I Think You Are Right About This....
Hi Richard,
I'm glad you said something about this, because I'm feeling the same way. We have friends who own B&B's in a couple of provinces and in the U.S. and they have found that things are getting slower and slower. Last year was pretty bad... and so far, this year is shaping up even worse.
Last year when we were going to leave for Maine, I called ahead to check with a couple of the B&B associations down there to find out how far ahead to make reservations in various towns. I was told that in previous years, I would pretty much have had to make my reservations a day ahead, or by noon at the very latest. However, everyone said that summer '96 had been really slow (this was in early August), and that I probably didn't have anything to worry about as long as I started looking for a place by about 3 or 4 in the afternoon. I thought that that sounded pretty scary at the time.
So, I think you are right about the tourism thing, and about consumer spending. I and a couple of friends do art on a commission basis, and the market really stinks right now. Some of us have had no problem selling stuff in the past, but at a show that you would have sold 8 or 10 or more works at a couple of years ago, you might sell one thing now. Everybody is nice and polite.... say they really like your stuff, etc... but nobody is spending money... and they are very open about discussing how broke they are. A lot of serious artists have stopped bothering with shows altogether and just keep their studios open for studio tours or weekend drop-ins, etc... Anyhow, from my point of view, it is a VERY different economy now than it was two years ago... However, the Big Wigs don't seem to have "figured that one out" yet.
Just in case you think we are the only ones thinking these thoughts, you might be interested in an interview with Susan Byrne of Westwood Equity, by Peter Elkind for "Fortune Magazine". Kerm Yerman has an excerpt posted on Kerm's Korner... here's the URL if you want to read the whole thing... it is REALLY interesting:
techstocks.com
If you don't have time to read it all, here is what may be the most interesting little passage in the whole thing... considering how everyone keeps saying consumer confidence is up and spending will result:
Q: Why do you hate consumer stocks?
A: I just don't have the confidence that others do in the persistence of their growth rates. The consumer is not the same engine that he was. People of my generation--I was born in 1946, so I'm the beginning of this huge wave of baby-boomers--overconsumed, overspent, and now they've decided that they need to save. The reflection of that is in the stock market--it's just another consumer product. People aren't buying McDonald's cheeseburgers. They're buying stocks.
Hope you check out the article, it is worth a read through.
So, returning to your original question... I don't think the economy is sick just in Colorado... maybe you're just in the "epicenter", but somehow I don't think so... My guess is that "the plague" is present just about everywhere. Sort of reminds me of a Ray Bradbury story (at least I think it was one of his)... "Something Wicked This Way Comes"..... sort of scary, eh?
Regards,
Bev |
