Same old, same old.

Three closings in three days downtown.

It always strikes me as odd that we get so many closings just before summer, but it makes sense when you think about it. If the leases started at the optimal time, which is just before the busy season -- well, then, they are going to end at the same time.

Whether the economy actually has anything to do with these closings (of course, it does....right? But I don't want to presume...) I can't really tell.

But I do think it's been a rough 3 or 4 months.

The news tried real hard there for awhile to make like things were getting better, but it might have been a bit of an illusion -- beating up on the almost complete collapse of the economy from Sept. 2008 through March 2009.

In hindsight, I can see how the economy probably 'stabilized', if that's the right word, and it's becoming a bit more difficult to 'beat last year.' I wonder about the psychological effect of the stock market correction, and the announcement that Bend placed 301st out of 301 'urban' markets for housing prices....Ouch.

Despite everything, I made a good profit this month, though I'll be down in sales. I should be able to pay a little over half of the big credit card bill I incurred earlier in the year, and polish off what's left in June. Giving me a clean slate for July.

I have a business plan for the next four years of so, starting in July, which I'll revisit and revise every six months or so, as needed.

Just settling in for the long haul. No matter how bad this looks, it is no where near as bad at it was in the mid-80's. A recession in a small lumber town with less than 20k people is pretty tough. I won't say this has been a walk in the park, but at least we are a 'metro' area, and at least we have a vital downtown, and at least we've established a tourist trade.

The trick is adjust my store to the current conditions, which I've gotten pretty good at.