2009: New Year, New Start.

January, 2009 is month of big changes for all of us. We're days away from an exciting transition of national leadership that is providing hope for many of us.

On a much, much smaller level, the company I founded in 1995, French Quarter Linens, is also going through an exciting transition that is making my staff and me hopeful!

For those of you who follow these things, I closed both our Eugene and Bridgeport Village stores (see blog posts below) within the past 10 days and all of our operations will be conducted out of our flagship Pearl District store, near downtown Portland.

The economy definitely played a role in the decision to consolidate. While there had been a general erosion of sales volume and profitability starting in late 2007 as folks began ratcheting in their spending, the real coup de grâce came toward the end of September shortly after Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy and the stock market began its downward spiral; many customers just stopped spending.

Our sales neither worsened nor improved through the holiday season, which is for us, like most other retailers, a key time for sales and profits. Additionally, there was a coup de grâce to the coup de grâce: exactly 11 days before Christmas, Portland was blanketed by record snowfall and frigid temperatures that lasted for two weeks and hampered all pre-Christmas festivities, chores and shopping. The plus side? We did have a white Christmas!

Rather than continuing to hope that the business climate will improve (which, inevitably, over the long term it will) I decided to make tough decisions about store closures rather than risk sinking the entire company.

Again, for those of you that follow these things, there are many retailers who waited too long, or were too hopeful, and they're now in the throes of liquidation. Many predict that the months ahead will see many other retailers, large and small, close their doors forever.

Meanwhile, it's back to work at French Quarter. Our 4,500 square foot Pearl District store is stuffed to the rafters with desirable merchandise and our seasoned staff is working like crazy to get it all merchandised properly. The phone numbers from both our Eugene and Bridgeport stores now ring to the Pearl, so it's a busy and chaotic place these days!

Our website is also beginning to see some consistent activity and we're finding that many web customers like the ability to ring through directly to the store to get expert advice and profound linen wisdom.

We've gotten smaller quickly, in order to get stronger.

We're still standing and we're here to stay.