Box Brothers Corp.

I had to make some business appointments in the field today, and I visited some of our Box Brothers retail outlets and one of our crating and shipping warehouses.

The overall impression I had today, was that things out on the street are pretty
quiet. I do not see the level of activity I used to see on an early summer day. We had activity at all locations, but we were not as busy as we would be in a normal summer season.

I passed by several moving operations, and all I saw was parked trucks. Not a sign that the
market has truly turned for the better. I even passed by Uhaul lots, Budget Rent A Truck lots, Public Storage and other mini storage's--none of them look like they were busy

I know we are having some weird non typical weather in Southern California, but the weather does not explain this. Sales are not what they should be for large retailers and I still see a great
many vacancies on the street and today I saw a great many commercial warehouses that were available, as well. In fact, I have never seen so many good properties available.

I also know my people. I know they actually enjoy a full day's work and there is simply capacity to do more work, and I think this worries most of them, since none of us have any real control on the mood or attitude of customers--or the public for that matter.

So much seems to have changed from a few years ago, I am not sure what to think, but I can tell you this, if the street is quiet and the economic activity is not increasing the way it should, what are we going to do?

Small business has been hanging on now for some time, and big business too, and I cannot see how this pace can continue without further hurt and damage on all of us, unless things get back to a more normal flow.

I am just not sure how much longer people can hang on, as only some segments of the work
force being at a normal level is not enough to sustain such a broad based economy. Yesterday on the news I heard the words, "double dip recession," more than once and I just hope this is not
the way we are heading.