Crawford tourism declining

It seems that President Bush isn't quite the cash cow that he used to be for the tourism and memorabilia industry in Crawford, TX.

All but abandoned after retail businesses closed or moved in the late 1950s and 1960s, Crawford sprang to life after Bush bought the Prairie Chapel Ranch in 1999 and began campaigning for the presidency.

Storefronts were renovated and sales soared. Crawford today is a farm and ranch town of 732 residents and home to a bank, an antique store, two gas stations and some grain silos.

But shuttered storefronts and eroding retail sales show tourism and the Bush memorabilia business are slumping.

A for-sale sign is the only thing in the smudged window of the turn-of-the-century, two-story brick building that once housed the Crawford Country Style store. "The numbers just weren't working," said Norma Nelson Crow, who closed the shop at the beginning of the year.

If Norma thinks it's bad now, just wait until February, 2009, when Bush sells that patch of dust "ranch" and relocates to Kennebunkport. That's when we'll see if the Crawford Tourism and Visitors' Commmission has what it takes to compete in the global economy.

(By the way, the Crawford Country Style store might have shuttered its bricks-and-mortar location, but the virtual shop is still open for business. If I were you, though, I'd wait until those boots came down a little in price. In fact, in about a year, Norma might pay you a couple bucks to haul them off the property.)