That was a Close One

I just re-opened the shop a week after closing the day before hurricane Ian decided to re-design the island and most of Southwest Florida. The cold hard fact was that I was lucky, very lucky and I realized that after surveying my home and business in the aftermath. I did not have time to shutter my home or my business because I was working in the shop pushing out customer’s repair work so they could pick them up before the storm hit us. My son and I did that until it was too late for us to evacuate. 

Like most of us, I was confident it would miss us by a hundred miles. I foolishly remained. My only reason for staying - and I admit that it was a stupid one - was that I had too much to lose and if things started going sideways (literally!) maybe I could do something to keep damage to a minimum. 

Unlike many residents here and surrounding towns (and my heart goes out to every one of them) I sustained minor damage to my home and by some miracle, no damage to my jewelry store except my roof air con that will hopefully be repaired before this goes to print. 

I was not so fortunate, nor had I made a wise decision, when hurricane Irma hit and I thought I was totally prepared for her. I was not. She caused me great trauma physically, mentally and financially… it took over a year to recover from that feisty lady’s destruction.

Yet here I am on the island a few years later during the height of another inconvenient Cat Four nearly Five hurricane named Ian, foolishly hoping during the worst of it that stacking bags of bark mulch against my garage door will stem the rising tide water… all the while being pummeled by wind, rain and flying palm fronds and what was left of my wife’s flower garden! Trials and tribulations in paradise! Surprisingly, the stack of mulch bags did the trick! It kept the water at bay in my garage and then the water subsided as the tide went out. 

All that was left for me to do was to calm down three traumatized canines and freaked out houseguest who, like myself, were seeking shelter from the storm. I then administered myself a healthy brace or two of my Carlos III, a Spanish brandy I saved for a very special occasion. 

 Once again, my staff and I wish a safe and speedy recovery to all my friends and customers during these trying times. 

So my million-dollar question is what will the future bring? To my ultimate surprise the shop has been busy since I re-opened on October 5th and it feels like any other October so far. I was touched by the fact the first two jewelry sales were my seasonal Marco Angel pendants, perceived by some to also be guardian angels when worn during the storm, and the wearers wanted additional ones as gifts to loved ones.

With Halloween only weeks away and before you know it Thanksgiving and then it’s the Holiday gift giving season. I just have to see and feel what the next weeks will bring. Do I purchase more stock or stay pat with the inventory I have? It’s an annual quandary situation and this is the same question most jewelers ask themselves this time of the year.

I for one, of course, have to crunch the obvious consumer numbers, such as the current state of the economy, what country is now invading which country, high fuel prices, electric fees, food and the overall cost of living and what will the Kardashians be wearing this season? An in addition the now obvious fact we islanders and surrounding towns just got clobbered by a devastating hurricane.

I’m no economic expert or an entrepreneurial genius, but I have been in the jewelry business for over 50 years and have pretty much been spot on what will or will not be a selling item and how much to stock for the Christmas crowd and the oncoming seasonal business. The only exception was the post Covid-19 experience. I never in my wildest dreams expected that holiday season and months after that fiasco to be the busiest year I ever had on the island! 

I ran out of my most popular stock in mid-November, causing me to scramble to re-order merchandise that would arrive in time for the Christmas buyers. The 2021 season was equally busy and much of the same until mid-summer when the air seemed to escape from the bubble and now it feels like pre- Covid-19. As I have mentioned in the past, it seems a percentage of the population appears to be suffering from what I call “Covid Brain Syndrome”!

Perhaps you have noticed it too. Some people say incoherent things or mumble and then get angry when you don’t understand a thing they just said even after repeating it. Irregular or weird behavior is a sure sign of it. 

For example, explain this one to me. I just left the local Mc Donald’s where I requested two cheeseburgers. I was told there are no cheeseburgers. I then asked for two hamburgers and was told they were out of those also but I could order a double cheeseburger? If that is not Covid Brain, I don’t know what is?

Stay Marco Strong!