Gatlinburg, TN over Memorial Day Weekend!

Harry Wilkins, Glenn and Diane Miller, and I spent Memorial Day weekend in Gatlinburg helping our staff keep up with the crush of traffic we were experiencing in our two stores on the Parkway, and in the Dollywood Theme Park in Pigeon Forge.

The following are some of the highlights:

1. Our new store which is 1,2000 square feet compared to 1,500 in the original store, having been open for around three months, is very close to matching the sales per square foot of the original store. The original store was opened 21 months ago.
2. We just discovered that a new tenant is moving in on the second floor above our newest location. It just happens to to Ripley's Wax Museum - and we have been told they are spending $32,000,000 just to open their store! Across the street from us are two other Ripley's - the original Ripley's, and the Old Car Ripley Museum. This will give us an amazing location in town.
3. Notice the pictures of some of our staff that operate our stores for us. They are very positive, hardworking people. We are honored and fortunate to have them on board.
4. The original stores sales for the Memorial Day Weekend were up 40% over the same weekend last year, and the second store's sales were right behind it - and the difference was not Harry, Glenn, Diane, or I because we were there last year! One would have thought that the second store would have cannibalized our first store - but such was not the case.