Fair vendors see poor profits

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - 17 days of the New Mexico State Fair came to an end on Sunday night, but hanging over the fun this year was the bad economy.

Vendors said attendance wasn't the problem, as fairgoers showed up but many were frugal with their money.

Angelina Lucero has set up her booth, filled with handcrafted ribbon made roses, since 1984. She said it’s the second year in a row sales have been down.

However, this year she said she's thankful because she's expecting to break even this time.

Sunday night when Lucero packed up to go home; she packed up more than she wanted.

“When hard times hit that's what you do," Lucero said. “I just thank God that at least I'm taking my money back home,” Lucero said. “They want the roses and then they have what ever they have. I think they're thinking do I want to eat or do I want to buy a rose.”

However, some food vendors said they’re not taking much money home either.

"We're down a little bit, we're down," Big Bubba’s Bad BBQ manager Sergio Gutierrez said.

It’s the eighth year Bad BBQ food booths have fired up grills at the state fair.

Gutierrez said they felt the pinch too this year.

“We're disappointed a little bit, but it's the economy we take as it is,” Gutierrez said.

Fairgoers, like David Duran, said the economy forced them to cut back on how much they spent this time around.

“We were sharing dinners, we're sharing food but we're here and we're having a good time,” Duran said.

A good time on limited funds meant some vendors went home with sales sheets in the red.

“My husband has his retirement so it's not that harsh for me, but for some people this is what they do only, so it's more difficult for them,” Lucero said.