The stock market is down. Mortgage markets are hurting. Right now, the economy doesn’t look so hot. Perhaps you’re thinking twice about getting that flat panel TV for the holidays or a family vacation. Give up your holiday cards featuring your youngest child wearing oversized snow boots? No way!

Shutterfly Chief Executive Jeffrey Housenbold says money woes won’t stop consumers from using online photoprinting services to buy personalized calendars with last year’s family vacation on them, or from making photobooks of Grandma’s 70th birthday celebration.

In a recent interview with Reuters, Housenbold, an Internet veteran who boasts executive tenures at eBay, AltaVista and CMGI, responded to the question of whether he was seeing any affect of the tough macroeconomic environment on Shutterfly’s business.

We’re not. When I was at eBay we thought of ourselves as recession-proof because in bad times people bring out stuff that’s in their garage and basements and generate extra income, and in good times people are searching for that hard to get toy or exclusive tickets.

At Shutterfly I don’t think we are recession-proof. I think people are going to give up that extra pair of Jimmy Choo’s or Manolo Blahniks before they are going to give up preserving or sharing their family’s memories, or that one time of year they take the time to communicate through their holiday cards. They still want it to be personal.

I don’t think the macroeconomics are going to affect our business in a meaningful way.

Perhaps not. But The Deal’s blog suggests that what might be best for its business in the end is to remain open to any buyout offers, given its much larger rivals.

(Photo: Shutterfly.com)