PENDLETON - A small red "For Rent" sign is taped into the corner of a dusty window in downtown Pendleton.
Inside, a bare hardwood floor stretches out into the darkness of the empty store accented only by an abandoned desk and a few boxes stuffed into the corner.
The only reminder of what the store once was is a sign that protrudes from the roof of the building.
Evey's Home and Garden was filled with colorful lawn globes, clever outdoor decorations and hip home accents just two months ago as shoppers hurried up and down Pendleton's shopping district.
Now, all that remains of the shop is the rental sign advertising the space and locals' memories of the place.
According to Town Manager Doug McGee, the closure of one Pendleton shop is to be expected in the downtown's destination strip.
What's less acceptable, he said, is the wave of closures seen across Pendleton in the past three weeks.
In all, five Pendleton businesses have closed or announced that they are closing since Christmas. They are Twigs, Daisy J's, Mud Puddlz, Tadpoles and Evey's Home and Garden.
On Thursday, Daisy J's was still open but had slashed its merchandise by 40 to 60 percent hoping to liquidate and walk away without too many losses.
J.B. Privett co-owned Daisy J's with Jessica Greene, owner of Twigs, for only six months before the shop's demise.
It was advertised as a gift gallery and contained an eclectic collection of clothing, lotions, home accents and miscellaneous items not found in department stores but contained nothing that shoppers couldn't live without, Privett admitted.
When Christmas didn't turn things around for the shop, the disappointed owners erected a sign that still hangs in the store window: "We fought the economy and the economy won."
Privett said she had to laugh at her circumstances if only to keep from crying. "The only thing you can do is laugh. I don't have any more tears left."
Privett also owns the Sister Exchange, a consignment shop in Pendleton. Up until July, it was called She Stuff and sold new clothes and accessories for women.
Realizing that economic times were causing shoppers to buy used rather than new, Privett transformed her shop, which is surviving in these tough times. Her consignment shop is doing well, despite low sales numbers, something Rita Borja understands well.
Borja co-owns Art's Antiques of Pendleton, a hodge-podge shop of new items and antiques. The emphasis on antiques at cheap prices, she said, has kept her afloat.
"I wouldn't say we're prospering, but I can't say we're struggling."
Gary Clifton owns Finder's Keepers, an antique shop and furniture store across the street in downtown, and said he can't say the same for his store. He described the retail industry as "absolutely terrible."
He's worried about Pendleton's trademark shopping district. "If things don't change in the very, very, very near future, there will be no shops in downtown. We're all in the same boat. We're all just struggling to keep the doors open."
Last month, Clifton weathered the worst Christmas he's seen in six years at his shop and said business is still slow. "I just walked out on the street and there's no cars on the street. There's no one shopping."
Pendleton, he said, had long been Madison County's only shopping destination. "If you look around, we've been the only real viable downtown around here anyway."
Now that empty storefronts are around the corner, the strip of shops could begin to resemble post-GM Anderson and the imprint of economic woes worn on area buildings.
McGee is optimistic that things will change. "I think it's very temporary. When things turn back around and continue to get on the upswing, there will be more people inclined to open those shops again."