This is John Batchelor, conversation with my good colleague Jim McTag, measuring the national economy

from Lancaster County, visiting Costco, and talking to a man who came out of retirement to sell

countertops because he was bored, also looking around for purchases that did not seem out of

the ordinary. There was one large furniture set.

However, Jim measures the economy okay, not hot, not cold,

and looks around each week for me.

Right now, high summer, the tourists are in Lancaster County, and the foot traffic at Costco is ordinary. Perhaps people are away.

Perhaps they're coming back. It is summer. More of this tonight. John, I was there on a Thursday.

It's funny because why I was in Costco, I had a discussion how accurate are federal economic

reports. They haven't been accurate since COVID, so it's very important for me to be on the

ground.

And what I see in Costco, moderate traffic, I touch base with a guy named Harry who was selling

countertops in Costco, you know, a special deal from an independent contractor through Costco.

Harry had been a director at My Pillow. He got bored with retirement, came back to sell

countertops because he's been in sales all his life. And he told me foot traffic was really

slow this week. I heard the same thing from a cashier at Wegmans,

which is a fabulous supermarket chain,

very moderate foot traffic.

Some people think it's because residents of Lancaster County,

a lot of them go to the seashore this time of year.

But I don't think we've lost that many people.

I just think it evidences that people are spending less on food and other things and more on experiences. Now, let me back up a little.

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