There are many stores going out of business around here. Linens'n Things, Mervyns, Shoe Pavilion are the big stores that are running liquidation sales near my house. I noticed Pei Wei (cheaper version of PF Chang's) is closed, and a couple of neighborhood restaurants closed, too. I wonder who is going to be next.
By the way, I drove by AM/PM gas station and the cheapest gas was $2.36. Boy, what happened to the gas price? Did we drill any oil well somewhere? It goes to show you it was not the supply & demand problem but more of greed game people played.
Anyway, I read a news about declining car sales. GM and Ford are doing really bad. Even Toyota sales is waaay down, and they're running 0% financing which is unheard of. I drive a Toyota and it is at about 95K miles. I'm planning to keep is as long as I can. I used to have a small GM car that I bought brand new. It stopped going reverse after one week. I had to insist to get a loaner while they fixed the problem. Its dash board cracked within one year, and the lady at the dealership told me I had to pay $600 for it as it was not covered under warranty. I think I had it about 2 years and ignition switch went out. Then, we decided to switch to Toyota. My Rav4 is 2004 model and, like I said, has 95K on it and still going strong. I did have a problem with the car, though. It was consuming more oil than it was supposed to. Toyota dealer took my car in and gave me a loaner right away. No hassle. No question asked. I think my next car will be another Toyota.
Stores are closing everywhere
November 4th, 2008 at 09:44 pm
November 4th, 2008 at 09:53 pm 1225835618
Around here, I have seen some things close, but at the same time, there are constantly new things opening, both stores and restaurants, so I'm not convinced that the closures are all due to the economy. I think strong businesses find a way to survive while weak or poorly managed ones can't make it through the rough patches.
I totally agree about the Toyotas. I have a 98 Camry with 112,000 miles and my wife has a 2000 Sienna with about 105,000.
November 4th, 2008 at 11:08 pm 1225840091
My mother's Toyota Corrolla had 200,000 miles on it. It was a 1984 and the T-O-Y fell off the back of the car. We laughed and called it the "OTA" for years. She's now in brother's old Camry which is a 2000 (my brother's old car) We laugh and say she'll drive it til she drives no more.
November 5th, 2008 at 12:09 am 1225843789
Gas prices have dropped, not becus of greed, but becus people all across America are struggling financially and have cut back on driving. Demand is down. "Greed," by OPEC, for instance, will drive prices up becus they plan to cut back on production.
November 5th, 2008 at 12:18 am 1225844316
Our area is hit hard with the closures. (I live in same city as Maismom) Particularly since it was SO over built in the boom. SO many small businesses were financed by home equity, etc. Our retail, restaurants, businesses in our area are complete ghost towns.
What really amazes me is the businesses that made it a whopping week or 2. Imagine starting a restaurant or retail store front to only last 2 weeks!!! It's the norm around here. Weeks, or months, if lucky. I figure those people didn't really think it through. & I can't help but wonder how many small business closures were linked to foreclosure.
November 5th, 2008 at 03:07 am 1225854449
Exactly. If a new business closes within a month, that isn't the fault of the economy. That is a total lack of planning on the part of the business management. Very few businesses are profitable from day one. It sounds like those places never should have opened in the first place. If they didn't have the capital to make it through the first several months, they had no business opening at all. It is just like all the folks who bought homes that they couldn't possibly afford.
November 5th, 2008 at 04:08 am 1225858087
November 5th, 2008 at 04:42 am 1225860162
November 5th, 2008 at 05:46 pm 1225907207
I stopped by gas station this morning, and it was $2.30 per gallon. Yay!