Let’s begin with 50,000 and then tear it down. That’s the square footage that Erik Mueller of Watson’s demolished before putting up a brand-new 100,000 sq. ft. spectacular new store in Cincinnati.

Once more, weather was the unwelcome guest at the patio furnishings party. This time the guest arrived at the beginning of the season, either in the form of relentless Nor’eastern storms or, a bit later, unseasonable heat that pushed thermometers into the 90s – for weeks at a time.

New for 2019!

In early August, Hearth & Home faxed a survey to 2,500 specialty retailers of hearth, patio, and barbecue products, asking them to compare July 2018 sales to July 2017. The accompanying charts and selected comments are from the 193 useable returns.

On the day of this writing, Yucca Valley, California, is at 93 degrees F. Wikipedia tells us that the population is around 21,652, and that the town is 27 miles north of Palm Springs.