Last month was the fifth-rainiest June Maine has seen, ever. And it doesn’t take a weatherman's Doppler radar to know that the first few weeks of the summer vacation season have been a bust for many businesses in the state.
Coincidentally, just as summer began, the legislature goosed the sales tax and hotel tax with the Governor saying that it would mean visitors would end up shouldering more of the state’s revenue load. Maybe not this year.
But there is a bright spot. L. L. Bean, the state’s largest private employer, seems to be benefiting. “Rain means customers,” a sales person at the Freeport store said. She added that June ‘09 sales were ‘much’ better than June ‘08's. And a year ago the economy wasn't yet in the ditch.
It’s safe to say the rain has sideswiped many a business in the state. Window shopping’s way off. There are few people sitting eating at the lobster shacks. Clam diggers have been rained out ... it's just gone on and on.
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