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money left over to spend on antiques.”
Mrs. Borkowski did say that her china business was doing well, comparatively. "But Rt. 66 has done us a bad turn for sure,” she said.
Also hard-hit are the fruit and vegetable stands that dot the highway leading into the park. These definitely depend on passing tourists since most local people garden or have family or friends that da
“There's been a definite drop in buyers,” said Mrs. Cecil Baldwin who with her husband, Thomas, operates a fruit and vegetable stand along with Thomas Baldwin’s West End Shell in Sperryville.
Mrs. Baldwin blames the drop in business on Rt. 66 and the ease with which tourists from the city can get to Front Royal.
“There hasn’t been a huge drop in business, but there's definitely been a drop,” she said. “Our biggest month is October, with the autumn leaves and the apples. We'll be able to tell then, for sure.”
Mrs. Jackie Holland agrees with Mrs. Baldwin's assessment of this summer’s business so far. She thinks the Interstate has hurt the business of Jackie’s Fruit stand near the Park entrance in Sperryville. But she also thinks the economy has something to do with it.
“The ones that do stop are just so careful,” she said. “They have very little money to spend and so they just buy a few peaches where before they might have bought a peck or a bushel or might have been interested in preserves or honey that caught their eye. People are worried about every penny these days.”
Diversification has saved some tourist industry businesses. Mike Sacco of Parkway Gift Shop told us that his business was certainly off but that the opening of his delicatessen has kept the cash flow going.
“My deli customers are definitely local people,” he said. “And they keep coming back, which is not always true of tourist”
Sacco said that any expansion he does will be for his local customers, like adding imported wine and cheese. He said that one of the reasons that people are not stopping in Sperryville is the high interest rates available to them if they save their money.
“The days of impulse buying are over for now," he
CONTRA DANCE
Saturday, August 15
8 p.m.
Washington Community
Center
Music by:
The Stable Band
Please bring drinks
or desserts
to share!
Admission $2.00
For more information call:
937-4205
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