Last man standing!

[Not your average framer]

The wife and I went out for a meal the other day and began to realise that it's been a while since we have been anywhere other than for a bit of local shopping. I was particularly surprised by how many shops which used to be there, have completely gone! I'm not talking specifically about framing shops, but just shops in general.

If there really is a lot worse to come, goodness knows how many more will be closing! Even the local charity shops are complaining about how bad trade is getting. Also I'm starting to get people calling in to see if there are any jobs going, I assume that these people have recently become unemployed.

In my own experience, about a third of my current framing orders are from new customers who appear to be coming to me after their original framer ceased trading. We are also getting a few people who have recently moved to the area and need things framed for there new home. While the framing orders are doing fine and I now employ extra staff to help, most of our other items are very slow to move at all.