Left out.

Extremely interesting article in the Bulletin about Memorial Day business.

First off, when I saw the pictures of the crowds at the Schwab, they looked -- sparse.

Secondly, a 70 to 90% occupancy level at hostelry's during a vacation weekend is not what I would call "solid." (I always assume the lower of the quoted ranges.) I remember when Bend's motels were full on normal everyday winter weekends, much less the kick off to summer.

Third, Jeff didn't really talk about retail much in the article. He actually came in and talked to me, but he seemed a bit rushed. I knew I wasn't giving him a good quote; my message was mixed. I'm down 15% in sales, but way up in profits. I'm down from a very peak year when I was adding new product lines. I'm down as much from comics being in a lull as anything else. I was busy on Saturday, slow on Monday. That sort of thing.

I've mentioned before that I thought it interesting that the Pine Tavern -- as much of an institution as this town has -- was willing to be forthright with their numbers. Even more surprising, was the Merenda saying that business fell off late last year, and has seen a 23% drop since January. And also the Summit Saloon, which didn't give numbers but did give the same impression.

But, my goodness, I can count at least 5 new restaurants in downtown so far this year, and they aren't small restaurants, either.

Seems like a clear case of over-fishing.

I'm actually beginning to feel a bit more secure. January was horrible, but it was backed up by a good February, March was horrible but stacked up against a peak month last year, and April was mediocre. But then again, May has been really good, so overall I'm feeling confident about summer.

It's made me examine what's happening, and like I said, I came away with the analysis that I was trying to compare to a peak year, where I had added two full product lines, which would be like a restaurant adding a dinner meal after only serving breakfasts and lunches; the following year, comparing a 3 meal day to another 3 meal day is going to be harder to beat.

Most encouraging, is I'm on the cusp of being able to fully stock the store for summer again without breaking my budget, and that almost has to result in more sales.

Hope for the best, and expect the worse.