Demise of my local flyshop

All,
I posted this in ROFF but thought I would back it up here for those of
us that are enjoying the "tamer" side of ROFF until after the US
Election.

I Was just down at my local fly shop, Joe Bruce's Fishermans Edge in
Catonsville and he said he's going under.

I was a bit surprised that it wasn't really the Bass Pro Shop that went
in 15 miles away but he said just the general downturn in the brick and
mortar flyshop business. He also mentioned that the fly business tends
to show a 18 year cycle of business and he wasn't willing to wait
around for the next Brad Pitt movie in 2012. The business made enough
money to stay afloat (no pun intended) but not enough to make it a
viable place to spend 8 hours a day.

In the short term the good news is everything in the shop is 35 to 40%
off. His website is www.joebruce.com for those not local and he is
going to keep that site and likely sell some of the stuff on-line and
such although he does not intend to turn that into a full time
business.

Took me a long time to finally move down the street from a flyshop and
certainly enjoyed it for a few years (as did Mastercard) . He'll be
sorely missed.

Allen
Catonsville, MD