We've had a very enjoyable August, catching up on house projects and finding a nice balance between traveling, entertaining, and tending to business at home and away. Sales were above decent, and it's interesting to note that most of our furniture sales have happened in our shop, rather than at shows.

 

We consider our "What Sales Tax Increase?" a grand success. With discounts of 26% and more, we didn't turn much of a profit, but we fed our bank account in preparation for our upcoming buying trip to England. Parenthetically, we noted with a touch of smugness that Home Depot and Pottery Barn both followed our lead, discounting sales at their Massachusetts stores to compensate for the absence of the annual tax holiday this year. (Our discounts were much better, though.)

 

The Vermont ADA show had its bright moments, and we were fortunate to be among the successful dealers. But shows are still iffy (we read last week that the promoters of Atlantique City have cancelled the March 2010 show, citing "the uncertainty surrounding the current economic environment"), so we'll continue to attempt to keep our shop and website active and interesting.  Perhaps because we're able to maintain a low overhead, we feel very optimistic about the future of our business.

 

We're looking forward to our trip to England at the end of the month and even more to our return and our November gala on November 14 and 15.