GATLINBURG REAL ESTATE

I had an interesting conversation with Don and Carolyn Pressler on the phone a couple of days back. Don and Carolyn were the former owners of the store that we now own on the "strip" in Gatlinburg. It had been a Christian Book and Gift shop for 17 years prior to our purchasing it.

I happened to ask Carolyn, previous to our purchasing their store, how long it had been since there had been a sale of real estate on the "strip"? I had surmised perhaps 5 years. She and Don were rather adamant that there had been no real estate transactions since they purchase their store 17 years ago. There have been no sales of real estate since we purchased a little over two years ago, and I think it is safe to say that there will probably be no sales in the next 10 years. This is a Warren Buffet real estate market - buy and hold.

Property on the strip is soaring in value. Landlords are investing significantly in lease-hold improvements, including complete tear downs and rebuilds. A pancake house, with a footprint just a little larger than our store was recently torn down and rebuilt into a Bubba Gump Seafood Restuarant. Their monthly lease just happens to be $30,000 a month!

Carolyn also indicated that she had heard recently that the traditional two week vacation that Americans had taken in the past is now being replaced by three or four day weekend jaunts. Judging by the traffic patterns in Gatlinburg, our stores experience would tend to corroberate this.

Our second store, located at the south end of the Parkway, just across from the Convention Center, is located in a new shopping complex. We were just informed that above our store Hollywood is investing $32,000,000 in lease-hold improvements (they are tenants - not landlords) to install a was museum.

With our two stores anchoring both ends of the Parkway we feel blessed to have the exposure we currently enjoy. I love going down on busy weekends! I have the opportunity to meet with consumers and dealers alike. It is amazing how many of our dealers go through the stores looking for merchandising ideas and new product introductions.