on Friday, Nov. 27, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times) Operating a retail store in a mountain resort town such as Aspen is hard enough with offseasons to contend with, plus elevated rents. Throw in a pandemic and it adds a whole other level of complexity to business. Luckily the locally owned shops in Aspen, peppered among recognizable big-name brands on storefronts, are a resilient bunch and spent the summer and fall months adjusting to new rules and restrictions put in place due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. “What I would say about the summer and fall was that it was unexpectedly OK,” said Aspen Emporium and Flying Circus owner Shae Singer. “I was very thankful that it was as busy as it was.”