CALDWELL, Texas — It wasn't business as usual for Melissa Brune in October.
"It seems like October is usually an up month," she said.
She owns Lissa's Restyled Sip & Shop in downtown Caldwell, and she's seen fewer customers than she ever has in its seven years of operation.
"This year the foot traffic went way down, and we’ve had a lot of days where things were really slow," Brune said.
But she's not alone.
Burleson County sales tax revenue decreased 14.86%, according to Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar's monthly report, going from $139,746.21 in sales in October 2022 to $118,968.51 in October 2023.
Executive Director of the Burleson County Chamber of Commerce Susan Mott said she believes it could be due to a lack of large events in October.
"I think what happened for us is September's a really big month. The chamber works on the Kolache Festival, which is a big event for really the county, and after that in the same month, we have our county fair," said Mott. "Back to back we have some big events that does impact our October a little bit."
But the chamber is trying to help business like Brune's.
The agency usually hosts events to bring more people into the county like "Small Business Saturday" on Nov. 26 and "Christmas on the Square" on Dec. 8.
"It is definitely remembering to shop small, shop local," said Mott. "It's those small businesses that are gonna give back to the community."
It's what Brune hopes will help her recover.
"With it usually being a high month of traffic, that really has hit the budget really hard, so when you have several days where you haven't made budget, then you have to readjust and think about where you're going with the business," Brune said.
She's also coming up with a few strategies of her own.
"With this mont —with it being Thanksgiving and then Christmas—for us since we bake, we’re hoping for a lot more baking orders," Brune said. "It's an easy way to help people with pies and breads and stuff for the holidays."
She just wants to stay open and continue doing what she loves—baking and giving friends a space to talk "face-to-face."
"We're just hoping that we can see another incline and just a pick up so that way, we can keep moving forward with being able to serve our community," she said.