[PAA-Discuss] Crawford TX - doodad update...

[Keith Koski]

http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070207/NEWS/ 
702070514
Notice, this is from the foreign press....

Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Shuttered souvenir shops reflect Bush’s low ratings
By Angela K. Brown THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CRAWFORD, Texas— Near the lone stoplight on Main Street, a for-sale  
sign hangs from a dusty window where a souvenir shop used to sell  
cufflinks, cowboy boots and denim shirts emblazoned “The Western White  
House.”

Another gift store across the street is shuttered too, though a sign  
says it will reopen elsewhere. And the biggest souvenir shop in  
Crawford is reporting a drop in sales.

The Washington professionals have their polls, their focus groups and  
their newspaper editorials. But Crawford, the 700-person town where  
President Bush’s ranch is located, has its trinket stores, and they  
have fallen on hard times, in what some say reflects the president’s  
sinking popularity over the war in Iraq and a daunting influx of  
anti-war protesters.

Norma Nelson Crow closed her Crawford Country Style store three months  
ago.

“I feel so strongly about the president that I wanted to continue to  
support him any way I could,” she said. “But I’m distressed about the  
poll numbers and think it was a combination of things: that and the  
protesters.”

It was in 1999 that then-Gov. George W. Bush bought his 1,600-acre  
ranch seven miles from downtown in this ranching and gas-drilling  
region 20 miles west of Waco. After Bush took office as president in  
2001, the ranch became known as the Western White House, drawing  
thousands of visitors a year hoping to see the ranch, which is not even  
visible from the road.

Although locals were thrilled to see more tourist traffic, they opted  
for small ventures like souvenir shops. Crawford still has only one  
restaurant, two gas stations and no hotel.

“Our economy didn’t depend on him before he was elected, and it won’t  
depend on him after he’s out of office,” said Kenneth Judy, vice  
president of Security Bank of Crawford, which opened in 2002 and is the  
town’s first bank since the Depression.

After reporting nearly $813,000 in gross sales in 1999, Crawford’s  
souvenir shops and other retail businesses generated $1.03 million in  
2000, the year Bush was first elected. Sales climbed steadily during  
Bush’s first term to $2.66 million in 2004.

But in 2005, sales had dropped to $2.3 million. They were down as much  
as 20 percent in each of the first two quarters of 2006. And while the  
third- and fourth-quarter figures are not yet available, all  
indications are that the slide continued.

The Crawford Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture said it had no figures  
on how many visitors the city gets.

Crow suggested the anti-war demonstrations that Cindy Sheehan started  
in Crawford in 2005 have led some tourists to stay away.

“When the president would be home, more people would come hoping to get  
a glimpse of him,” she said. “But with the frustrations caused by the  
protesters, it wasn’t as popular to come to Crawford and pick up  
trinkets.”

Another possible reason given for the downturn in business: Bush did  
not visit his ranch in 2006 as often he used to. In past years, more  
visitors flocked to town when the president was here.

Bill Johnson, owner of Crawford’s largest gift shop, Yellow Rose, said  
he plans to continue running his store, which also sells crosses,  
saddles, guns and Western clothing in addition to coffee mugs, T-shirts  
and other souvenirs.

“I think the president’s ratings will go up, and when that happens, the  
sales go up,” he said. “As far as Crawford’s future, I think it looks  
bright. Is it going to be as hectic as it was a few years ago? No. But  
Crawford’s name is known far and wide, and when he retires, people who  
are endeared to him will want to come to Crawford.”

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