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“That depends,” he replied “Which mode is more efficient?”

“Th-that would depend upon on how fast a walker you are The car makes a couple of stops beforehand, so sos” The soldier, or whatever he was supposed to be, let the sentence trail off

“Then walking it is Thank you”

Adjusting his charcoal-gray scarf tighter around his neck, Ja’s Christ with Belinda Fryberg, the sooner he could lock in his sale and fly back to Boston At least there, he only had to deal with Christmas one day of the year

“What did you say?”

“I said, your Christmas Castle has a few years of viability in it, at best”

Noelle hated the new boss

She’d decided he rubbed her the wrong hen he glided into Belinda’s office like a cash apart their operations And she loathed him now that he’d insulted the Christmas Castle

“We all know the future of retail is online,” he continued He uncrossed his long legs and shifted his weight Uncharitable a thought as it , lanky frame into Belinda’s office furniture “The only reason your brick-and-mortar store has survived is because it’s basically a tourist attraction”

“What’s wrong with being a tourist attraction?” she asked Fryberg’s had done very well thanks to that tourist attraction Over the years, what had been a se industry unto itself with the entire town e the Bavarian atmosphere “You saw our balance sheet Those tourists are contributing a very healthy portion of our revenue”

“I also saw that the biggest growth came from your online store In fact, while it’s true retail sales have remained constant, your electronic sales have risen over fifteen percent annually”

And were poised to take another leap this year Noelle had heard the projections E-retail was the wave of the future Brick-and-’s would soon be obsolete