Two Roswell shop owners who rely on tourist traffic have suffered a slump in sales

While tourism to Ruidoso has been disrupted by forest fires last year and catastrophic floods this year, two decades-old tourist-oriented shops in west Roswell have seen their traffic affected as well.

Cactus Cave Gift Shop, 530 W. Second St, and and Wieland's Yucca Emporium, 3707 W. Second St, offer tourist traffic passing through Roswell a variety of merchandise such as Mexican imports, Native American art and, of course, alien-themed curio.

Yolanda Cisneros, said she has operated the Cactus Cave Gift Shop for 20 years. She said the shop gets some local business, but most of it is from passing tourists. About 70% of her customers are from Texas headed to Ruidoso.

“We've been slow... but July was better

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