top story in this week’s North Coast News:

The TV news and daily newspapers have been full of bad, bad economic news for the last few months.

Well, here’s some good news: On the North Beach, businesses are reporting brisk sales for the month of February.

At Fusions Gallery, sales were “almost double” compared to February of 2008, said owner Kelly May.

She says there’s a good reason for it: “We had ‘the perfect storm’: winter break, a clam dig, Valentines Day, Presidents Day . . . and good weather.”

The Antique Festival and Chocolate on the Beach Festival also helped lure visitors to the North Beach in February.

“This year Valentine’s Day weekend was a quintuple threat,” emailed Troy Summerill, general manager of the Shilo. “1. Weekend holiday for the ‘lovers.’ 2. Antique Show 3. Presidents Weekend (Monday off for some people). 4. Beautiful Weather 5. Clam dig.

Losing my mind dept.: I posted the list of nominees a few weeks back, but forgot to post the winners (the winners list appeared in the Feb. 4 edition of the North Coast News).

    Top:    OCEAN SHORES  winners  

         Bottom:  NORTH BEACH (Ocean City-Taholah)     winners    

Best Event: Sand & Sawdust                                                                                                                                     Kelpers

So I’m hearing that businesses around Ocean Shores have been having a really nice February (great weather, clam dig, etc.); none of the D&G the rest of the country is suffering.

I’d like to follow up on this: if you’re a business person who has been doing well of late, or just know of a retail shop or restaurant that is on a roll, post a comment below or email me: tscanlon@northcoastnews.com.

Are those cash registers I hear, or is that a ringing in my ear?