A few weeks ago I meant to blog about an article I read in the NY Times (can’t find it now) that followed a family who, even in this big economic downturn, were keeping the sailboat they bought with a second mortgage.
Their reasoning? It brought their family together and the pleasure that they derived from the boat, far outweighed the thought of selling it though they could use the money. I had forgotten about the article until I picked up yesterday’s Times and read a somewhat companion piece (at least I see them as similar) regarding the health, or lack thereof, of the book business heading into the holiday season.
We met two people at opposite ends of the literary buying spectrum, one person who has become a browser instead of a buyer with the stock market tanking and another who had just bought her second book in two days.
Jacqueline Belliveau, the book purchaser, (I’m printing her name because she’s really the “person” who this post is all about – and deserves a hip, hip, hooray) and her attitude says a lot about where many of us consumers find ourselves these days when it comes to discretionary spending.
For what Jacqueline has said is that while she may scrimp in other areas of her life, the joy she gets out of buying books is more important than the other things she has chosen to give up while money gets tight.
I had conversations with people, as far back as last December, when there were early signs that the economy was heading south, about how I saw this affecting wine sales. And to be honest, while I wasn’t nervous, I was prepared for something a few notches above bad.
Where I personally pinpointed this slow down happening was in wine club sales. Over the past two years the club has been a driving force for us, as more people become familiar with our wines and want to ensure they get access to them (in the grand scheme of things our production is very small). And yet it also seemed the easiest thing for anyone wanting to cut expenses to do without.
But as January rolled around and our first club e-mail went out, I waited for cancellation e-mails to come back to me. But none did. And as the year progressed we actually saw an increase in club membership as the economy got worse and worse.
Loyal customers? Sure, that’s part of it . We really do have the best customers in the biz. But I think it’s much more than that. For them, wine is their recession buster, their line in the sand, their “I’m mad as hell but not going to take it any more” declaration.
Yes, the economy is bad but perhaps the badder it gets, the more we want to cling to the things that make us happy, whatever our place on the economic totem pole. For some that means keeping the sailboat, buying the books, drinking the wine, or even making sure the Friday night family dinner/movie on the couch is held onto at something else’s expense.
So while I’m skeptical that what does not kill us makes us stronger, I do know that what makes us happy, certainly does…
