I am not sure if this latest development is simply another piece of evidence of a sketchy economy or part of a greater trend but I learned the other day that our local winery and their downtown tasting room is shutting down at the end of September.
The winery has been around a long time, but after COVID lockdowns were lifted and people started going out again they decided to open a free standing tasting room apart from the actual winery in our downtown core to try to capitalize on the return of tourism.
Well, from the looks of things that has backfired because both the downtown tasting room and the overall winery are slated for closure.
I do know that the consumption of alcohol in The US is currently at a 90-year low, led in large part by an under-35 demographic that has pretty much completely turned its back on the whole idea of socializing out. I know we can also put part of the blame on the aging demographic of our particular town where the median age recently passed 60, making it the oldest county in the state of Washington, as well as among the five oldest counties in the entire USA.
But Even so, the news was somewhat of a surprise and rather sad because owners of the winery are very nice people who have been active and supportive members of the community for as long as I can remember.
It seems to me like this is also part of a greater trend that is leading to a decline in a great many different aspects of society. The restaurant industry is in decline, due to skyrocketing costs of both raw materials and transportation. The art and gallery business is in steep decline, largely a result of people with disposable income increasingly trading experiences for physical objects. Other inustries seem to be on similar downward trjectories.
In general, it seems that any kind of thing that requires a physical location is at risk because more and more people are buying online and never leaving their homes, and experiences are increasingly replacing physical objects. And when people are going outside, it is often to enjoy low/no cost activities.
This was a trend we were already seeing when we had the Red Dragonfly gallery as a physical brick and mortar location.
People would come in, admire the art, perhaps buy a postcard showing a piece of art that they particularly liked and that was their art experience. And then they would go across the street to eat a $100 dinner instead of spending $50 on a piece of art they really liked that would be with them forever.
At this point it doesn't look like there are any buyers lining up for the winery, and it seems increasinly likely that it will just be a total shutdown.
The relatively new downtown tasting room is likely to sit empty for a long time because it is a large and highly customized space, unlikely to suit very many potential tenants without a major rebuild, first.
Just another sign of the times...?
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