QUARTZSITE — It’s been a rough winter for Cena Beene, one of the many hoping to cash in on snowbirds who flock to this normally desolate patch of western Arizona.
The desert is studded with RVs and trailers, and vehicles exiting Interstate 10 back up 10 deep at Quartzsite’s only traffic light. But business is down, according to Beene and others whose tent businesses transform the town almost overnight into a giant swap meet.
Since November, Beene has sold about half as many American Indian feathers, headdresses and kachina dolls as she had by this time last winter. Beene, who’s been venturing here from Pennsylvania for 26 years, doesn’t know how long she’ll stick around if business doesn’t pick up.
“We’ll be lucky if we stay until the end of February,” she said.
Meme Selleck, who travels here from San Diego, said she’s used to much bigger crowds in the open-air market where she peddles antique dishware.
“It’d take a week to get through this,” Selleck said, pointing around her. “You could not walk in the aisles.”
Business owners and Quartzsite officials say the biggest reason for the slowdown is posted at gas stations around town. Gas prices are pushing $3 a gallon on average nationally, and those who drive RVs or tow trailers take a bigger hit than most.
“At these prices today, a lot of them can’t afford to come here,” said Verlyn Michel, Quartzsite mayor.
Michel expects 20 percent fewer people to visit Quartzsite this winter. Last year, a record 5 million visitors passed through Quartzsite, he said, citing Arizona Department of Transportation figures.
Erin Morehouse, who sells Disney collectibles and used clothing here, said she understands the pain of higher gas prices. She and her husband drive their van, which also serves as their home in Quartzsite, back and forth from Huntington Beach, Calif., 250 miles away.
“Every time we go home, it’s a $120 round trip,” Morehouse said.
The weak dollar and higher inflation are hurting consumers nationwide, said Dawn McLaren, a research economist with the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center at Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business. The dollar’s drop makes imported goods more expensive, she said, and that drives up prices for everything from clothing to gasoline.
“As those things take a bigger chunk out of the budget, you have less percent of the money to spend on fun stuff,” McLaren said.
Home to about 3,600 permanent residents, Quartzsite becomes a small city in the winter as the RV set takes advantage of its mild weather and unique charms. The latter include a gem and mineral show and Hi Jolly Days, honoring an immigrant who helped the military experiment with camels as pack animals in the 1800s.
Quartzsite has dozens of RV parks, and the federal Bureau of Land Management operates several large campgrounds in the desert outside town.
Magilla Ralitaille, visiting for the fifth straight year from the Canadian province of Quebec, said the cost to drive his RV here is worth it.
“It’s dry and we can have sun almost every day,” Ralitaille said. “It’s less expensive than in Florida.”
Following the visitors are sometimes-quirky businesses offering everything from Beanie Babies to quilts to organic meat.
The shopping has become a draw in itself, attracting people such as Rey Rios, who has been making the trip from Barstow, Calif., for 18 years.
“You find a lot of good bargains,” Rios said. “I bring anywhere from $2,000 to $3,000 and come home broke.”
Rick Garlow would like to see more such visitors. Co-owner of the Quartzsite General Store, which does most of its business in the winter, he said sales are down 15 percent from last year.
“That’s $100,000 in gross sales,” Garlow said. “It means we’re going to have a tough summer.”
Quartzsite has benefited greatly from the winter boom. Since 2000, the town has extended water and sewer service to its entire population, paved roads and beefed up the fire and police departments. Its population has doubled in that time.
Beene, the vendor from Pennsylvania, said that as Quartzsite has grown it has lost some of its charm and its appeal to vendors. Some of the lots where winter vendors once set up now have RV businesses on them, for example.
When she first started, Beene could snag a spot for $90 a month. Her rent today is $500 a month, a price she said is making Quartzsite a less-interesting place to shop.
“We need progress, but we don’t need to run the vendors out of town,” she said. ≠