Going out of business in 2009?

[Olde Hornet]

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/106466/Where-You-Won't-Shop-in-2009

This is going to be a tough year, the money boys expect many stores to close and downsize.

While industry executives and shoppers will remember 2008 as the year the party ended, figure 2009 to be the year of the hangover. Already, Circuit City, Linens 'N Things and Mervyn's stores are going away. Sharper Image is too, though the company will continue to sell some of its high-end gadgets through license agreements with other retailers.

More pain is on the way. One-third of U.S. women recently surveyed by America's Research Group said they plan no clothing purchases--none--in 2009. Normally, it's just 4%. That means the market is still far too saturated with stores.

Expect closings and bankruptcies to rattle the likes of Lane Bryant, Gap, and Starbucks. It's the inevitable counterpunch to the days of retailers fighting hand over fist for market share during an era of loose credit and minuscule interest rates.

Those days are over, probably for a long time. While accelerating unemployment will only last so long, consumers' debt loads and credit access don't figure to recover to pre-party levels for quite awhile.

 

[C.O.G.]

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/106466/Where-You-Won't-Shop-in-2009

This is going to be a tough year, the money boys expect many stores to close and downsize.

While industry executives and shoppers will remember 2008 as the year the party ended, figure 2009 to be the year of the hangover. Already, Circuit City, Linens 'N Things and Mervyn's stores are going away. Sharper Image is too, though the company will continue to sell some of its high-end gadgets through license agreements with other retailers.

More pain is on the way. One-third of U.S. women recently surveyed by America's Research Group said they plan no clothing purchases--none--in 2009. Normally, it's just 4%. That means the market is still far too saturated with stores.

Expect closings and bankruptcies to rattle the likes of Lane Bryant, Gap, and Starbucks. It's the inevitable counterpunch to the days of retailers fighting hand over fist for market share during an era of loose credit and minuscule interest rates.

Those days are over, probably for a long time. While accelerating unemployment will only last so long, consumers' debt loads and credit access don't figure to recover to pre-party levels for quite awhile.

And this may be good. Let's go ahead and hit absolute bottom...Then we know which way the economy will head.
Hit bottom now. Obama can not be blamed for the mess he inherited, then get things backon track.
Many of these businesses need to fail due to the practices they held. Fail and start anew or let others start with new and better practices.

 

[DR. GSUAKA93]

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/106466/Where-You-Won't-Shop-in-2009

This is going to be a tough year, the money boys expect many stores to close and downsize.

While industry executives and shoppers will remember 2008 as the year the party ended, figure 2009 to be the year of the hangover. Already, Circuit City, Linens 'N Things and Mervyn's stores are going away. Sharper Image is too, though the company will continue to sell some of its high-end gadgets through license agreements with other retailers.

More pain is on the way. One-third of U.S. women recently surveyed by America's Research Group said they plan no clothing purchases--none--in 2009. Normally, it's just 4%. That means the market is still far too saturated with stores.

Expect closings and bankruptcies to rattle the likes of Lane Bryant, Gap, and Starbucks. It's the inevitable counterpunch to the days of retailers fighting hand over fist for market share during an era of loose credit and minuscule interest rates.

Those days are over, probably for a long time. While accelerating unemployment will only last so long, consumers' debt loads and credit access don't figure to recover to pre-party levels for quite awhile.

Hopefully that will mean my little boutique can stay in business by targeting their customers. I need to get my hands on their customer mailing lists.:idea:

 

[cat daddy]

Hopefully that will mean my little boutique can stay in business by targeting their customers. I need to get my hands on their customer mailing lists.:idea:

The failure of chains could mean big things for small local businesses. The local economic development folks have been running tons of PSA's about doing business with locally owned retailers to help keep the local economy strong.

 

[Bartram]

Out of kaos comes opportunity. These businesses going under will make way for leaner more efficient businesses to take their place and fill the demand.

 

[FAMU CLIFF]

Retailers (just like home builders) expanded their operations to meet the consumer spending levels of cheap money and folks wallets bulging from doing a refi on their house every year. Now with that money sucked out of the market and folks are relegated mostly to spending their paychecks (and some of those even going away), the retail sector (just like the housing sector) will take a few years to right size.

 

[Bartram]

Funny thing is, around here at least, i'm not seeing all these depressed house prices. I've been looking around at new homes and they seem to be just as high or higher than they were a year ago.

 

[FAMU CLIFF]

Funny thing is, around here at least, i'm not seeing all these depressed house prices. I've been looking around at new homes and they seem to be just as high or higher than they were a year ago.

Every market is different. Where would "here" be?

 

[Bartram]

Every market is different. Where would "here" be?

The southeastern corner of Alabama, not too far from Tallahassee.

 

[FAMU CLIFF]

The southeastern corner of Alabama, not too far from Tallahassee.

Your housing contraction will be based on how heated your housing market was during the bubble. If you didnt see those years of 10-30% growth like some other places, you should not see a huge decline.

 

[Bartram]

Your housing contraction will be based on how heated your housing market was during the bubble. If you didnt see those years of 10-30% growth like some other places, you should not see a huge decline.

I would agree. This region, Alabama in general, with the exception of pockets like Huntsville-Madison, burbs around Birmingham/MGM/Mobile, is historically slow growth, no real boom & bust cycles. SE Alabama is essentially farming/small town small metro/rural/military/retiree-based which probably helps keep prices stable to slowly rising.

Another trend has been people moving further inland and getting away from high taxes while being less than 100 miles from the beach, so the housing sector here is still building.

 

[FAMU CLIFF]

I would agree. This region, Alabama in general, with the exception of pockets like Huntsville-Madison, burbs around Birmingham/MGM/Mobile, is historically slow growth, no real boom & bust cycles. SE Alabama is essentially farming/small town small metro/rural/military/retiree-based which probably helps keep prices stable to slowly rising.

Another trend has been people moving further inland and getting away from high taxes while being less than 100 miles from the beach, so the housing sector here is still building.

That corner would seem like a good place to buy some land and retire. Good weather,cheap plentiful land and near the ocean. It a large airport was somewhat near, it would be the bomb.

 

[Bartram]

That corner would seem like a good place to buy some land and retire. Good weather,cheap plentiful land and near the ocean. It a large airport was somewhat near, it would be the bomb.

People do it all the time. Amazing. I think other people not even from the south take advantage of this region more so than the natives. The natives usually have to leave, move to other states to get good jobs.

You're right, which is why I moved back from California. Not much cheap plentiful land out there. Yeap, I've busted the nest egg several times to buy acreage here. If you can get in an area like this with a good job/business you can clean up as it is easier to be at the top of the income food chain unlike in California/Los Angeles where I was doing good to pay rent and bills; not much disposable income out there at the time. The best of all worlds is the north Florida panhandle esp now that the beach areas are growing. It's rural/small town like Alabama, but it's in the state of Florida with great roads and such and the prettiest sugar-white beaches in the continental U.S.

Things are looking up on the airport front. Dothan is a nice small regional airport, some people drive to Tallahassee but Panama City, 89 miles from here, is in the process of building a new airport that will probably become the primary airport for the panhandle, SW GA and SE Alabama. Other than that, Montgomery is only 78 miles away.