<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" = http-equiv=Content-Type> <META content="MSHTML 5.00.2614.3500" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Wim</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sorry to read about you retail closing. = I've thought about trying retail from time to time to fill the gaps the = current dealers can't/won't fill, but I've ever had the nerve to try it. My = hat's off to you for trying.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Paul Chick</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>----------Original = message---------</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: = 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A href="mailto:Wimblees@AOL.COM" = title=Wimblees@AOL.COM>Wimblees@AOL.COM</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = href="mailto:Pianotech@ptg.org" title=Pianotech@ptg.org>Pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, January 28, 2001 = 12:47 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> bittersweet day</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT size=2>My friends <BR><BR>Yesterday was a bittersweet day for me. After 7 years in the = retail business, <BR>I closed my store. Some of you might recall that I moved = into a new, bigger <BR>store this summer, with great expectation. = Unfortunately, the economic slow <BR>down took it's toll on my sales. They just didn't = happen. So in December I <BR>took steps to terminate my lease, and yesterday I = moved my office stuff to my <BR>basement. I still have a shop in my store, and = I have until the end of <BR>February to move out of there. I will continue my = service end of the <BR>business, ( I have to make money somehow), but the = retail store is history. <BR><BR>As I said, it is kind of bittersweet moment. = Although I enjoyed the retail <BR>end of the business, it has been a struggle. I = am looking forward to taking a <BR>Saturday off once in while, and = spending evenings at home. <BR><BR>No need to replay to this post. I just = wanted to share this with my friends. <BR><BR>Willem </FONT></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>