The Summer Season That Wasn’t

The phrase “six weeks in, six weeks out” has been used by many people on Martha’s Vineyard as long as I arrived 13 seasons ago. It refers to the mid-way point of the high season, when things should be in high gear, running on all cylinders, and the businesses have a pretty good idea of how the season will pan out overall. At that time in the season, those people making money will be separated from those that will merely get by or clear out, whatever the case may be.

After owning a business for all of these years, I have been here for the pinnacle in 1999 and 2000, as well as the gradual decline since that high water mark. In all honesty, I thought the low was last year, when the island as a whole seemed to have been caught in a general fiscal malaise. Judging by the numbers of my business for the July that just passed, I was terribly wrong. Let me start by saying that I have noticed a few trends in businesses in general, not just mine: People are less impulsive when spending money; when people spend money they are spending less; when people spend money they want exactly what they want right then. Another trend I have noticed is that there are fewer people here, on the island, creating foot traffic. The cars are still creating traffic jams at Five Corners, the Blinker, the Triangle, etc., but the sidewalks just do not seem as crowded as years past. That means fewer customers, less revenue.

Back to this past July: Fewer phone calls, fewer reservations, fewer clients and fewer dollars coming in. I’ll spare you the ugly details. Suffice to say that July of 2011 made about half the revenue that was produced in July of 2010. A simple fact is just plain scary as a business owner. The fact that I somehow have to beat last August's numbers is even more daunting when I consider that last July about equaled August in both numbers and revenue, when August traditionally trumps July in every way. I can only hope that the last few weeks of this season are some of the best of recent memory. So there it is, a summer of unusually volatile weather, peculiar patterns of busy week days and deserted weekends. A season of economic woe for the nation, reflected in a microcosm on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, portrayed by a singular small business that is caught in a state of flux, unknowing which way the winds of fortune will blow in a summer season that just has not seemed to ever really get started.

The other phrase that has always been so popular, “pray for September” has never had such an ironic ring to it.