The French Market in New Orleans, a sad sight

I was eager to see the market. But, when I got there, my heart sank. The sight was very disturbing. The place was quiet, I would say almost empty. There were very few vendors, their goods were nothing unique. I stopped at a stand to talk to one of the vendors. He nearly cried because business has been terrible in this economy and is only getting worse. He said he was waiting to see if he can make up the loss during the Mardi gra season. If not, that he had decided to pack up and just cut his losses.