The Bulletin's "Go Magazine" feature was "Nerd Alert."
Wait a sec. How come I wasn't contacted?
So I look up the feature and there we are: "Long before anyone regarded nerds as cool, owner Duncan McGeary was working away to create a bastion of nerd culture in downtown Bend..."
OK. Bastion, not Institution. Same thing, right?
I have to say, every day that goes by, I'm still amazed to be almost the last person standing in downtown Bend from when I started. I mean, I don't know if that's such a big accomplishment. I'm stubborn and what the hell else was I going to do? But we certainly stand out as different.
"How long you been here," the innocent customer asks.
Pregnant pause, "Oh..." milking it..."forty years..."
"Wow."
"Or 150 years in Bend years..." I add.
What is really amazing me is how good business is right now. Not only surviving, but thriving.
I wish I could take credit for the current boom, but I've learned that almost every nerdy store like mine is doing extremely well, which means that rather than it being my brilliant business moves and downtown Bend, it's the current economic climate.
People have money in their pockets, time and energy to look around, and less places to spend it. (Movies, concerts, etc. etc.)
Which means that it will trend back to normal eventually. But it is fun to be at the store right now and watch all the activity.
You just never know.
No comments:
Post a Comment