REASONS TO BE GRATEFUL, PART WHATEVER

This will be our last FER Dealer Report e-newsletter of the year. In two weeks, it’ll be Dec. 27 and we’re giving Jan, our news editor (and my significant other), the week off between Christmas and New Year’s. We’re heading out with the kids to Jan’s mother’s family farm in the mountains outside Williamsport, Pa., to see her uncle and parents. It’s a peaceful, beautiful place and we’ll be grateful for the break.

By the way, we’re moving Dealer Report and our broader audience e-newsletter FER Fortnightly, which you also receive, to a Wednesday morning schedule next year. This is partially so Jan, Brian Ward and I don’t have to work so much on the weekends, and partially because, for some reason, many companies drop press releases on Monday. The next Dealer Report will be sent Jan. 4, 2012.

At the end of a year, we always try to remember all the things for which we’re thankful. Among them are all of you, some of whom I’ve known for three decades. For all of those I visited and talked to this year, thanks for taking the time and/or the call. We appreciate it.

We also want to thank, and you should too, our advertisers. Dealer Report was sponsored this year by American Metalcraft, Cres Cor, Vulcan and Vollrath. We can’t do this for free and these companies value you highly.

We’re grateful most of us had a better year in ’11 than we did during the Great Foodservice Recession that began in ’08 and lasted through at least mid-year ’10. I’m grateful, too, that as an industry, we only had two years of declining sales. Many operators have seen sales declines for at least three years, some for five. We’re lucky things popped back as quickly as they did. Not that some parts of the market and regions of the country aren’t still struggling. But things are better and still improving.

We thank all of you who participated in our first FER Dealer Report listings last June. We’ve heard great feedback from our operator, consultant and manufacturer readers. Many of you will be receiving the form in the first quarter for next year’s listing.

Not least, we’re grateful we still have one of the best gigs in the history of the world, this little enterprise that allows us to hang out with all of you, provides value to our readers and advertisers, and helps 10 or more families (we have freelancers and suppliers too) eat regularly and live indoors. We’re sure you’re thankful this industry allows you to do the same.

All of us here at Gill Ashton Publishing wish you wonderful holidays and a healthy, fun, fulfilling and wildly successful 2012.

Cheers,

Robin Ashton

Publisher

rashton@fermag.com

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