It's hard for me to believe that the end of this year completes the shop's third year in operation. It's been a wild ride since I opened this shop full-time at the end of 2019: first C*VID, then supply chain issues, now inflation, and potentially that dreaded "R" word that seems to be lurking around the corner.
Earlier this week, I was reading a story of a local Mississippi business that is closing its doors effective immediately. All 2700+ employees were laid off without any notice. It's absolutely heartbreaking, and the news comes at the worst time of the year. These stories seem to be more common lately as our economic forecast grows a bit more grim each day.
Even with COVID and supply chain issues in my first two years, it was fairly easy to sell my pillows. We all had money to spend, and we were all eager to freshen up our homes that had now become our offices. But something changed this summer. What should've been a big sales month in July turned into my first month of negative growth. That stung a bit, and it certainly brought about a bit of anxiety thinking this might be the new normal for a while.
