Quote:
Originally Posted by Turtle Boy
You make very good points with numbers to support them. I hope things improve for your business...People are seeing signs of this and I hope they're right. We're having a little construction done and can see the builders are really hurting. Many people on forum are attributing all the change on the lake to weather and economy, and while they may contribute, I would add the following. August weather was great, and I boated more in August than I can remember. Secondly, gas prices, according to what people have said on this forum, are a major contributor to how much people boat. Now 9.7%/6.9%US/NH unemployment is not good, and many of the other 90.3%/93.1% have also been affected, but there are many on the lake who have been somewhat insulated(and I'm sorry it's not you)....many on pensions, many in the public and medical sectors, etc., etc.,and many who come to Winni are probably better off than the average person. There were many days in August when the traffic near me seemed almost normal; my point is that their behavior was different. The previously described GFBL's screaming 150' past the fisherman at 70 MPH were pretty much gone for example. As much as some on the forum would deny it, it can't all be explained by the economy and weather. The manner in which people are boating has changed for the better, even if fewer are boating. Good luck with your business...next year should be better.
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Business in and of itself is fine, just down. We did compensate early enough that the bottom line is still the same just sales are down. Thank you for your response. However we have seen a larger hit of people losing their jobs that are in the upper tax brackets, many of our clients have asked to put off work that was scheduled for next year after their portfolios went into the trenches. 76% of our current client base own two or more homes. I agree with MeEscape's post above regarding the toys being the first things to receive neglected attention, same goes for additional dwellings. When the folks that can afford the toys and the second homes start seeing that the ax could make it to their level they cinch up the purse strings and focus money on other things. On the times I was out on the lake this year on both Winni (July 4-5, Aug 15-16 and 29-31) and Sunapee (Sept 5-6) the numbers of boats seemed very low compared to the years past and those were all very good boating days and two were holiday weekends. Working on Sunapee for most of the July and August months the traffic was down considerably even during the week. Maybe some of the cowboys around you are some of the same folks that fall into that current unemployment number.