Lines at local supermarket that I frequent have been getting longer. Monday at 10am, in line for 20 minutes. Friend on friday at 8am waited in line for 15 minutes. Morning are usually slow there. Many carts were jam packed full.

More people coming around to the prepping way of thinking.

 

I am in MA and have not had any friends or family lose jobs yet. I do not know of a single person who is even trying to get a loan. Here people are just buckling down. I have been to a variety of different store lately and for the most part they are dead... ghost towns. I went to Bed Bath and Beyond last week and I was the ONLY person in the store! I had to return something two day later and there was only 1 other person in the store. Target had a handful of people there but no one was loading up their carts, just a few sparse purchases. Bj's has been pretty quite too. So, overall my impression is that consumer spending is definitely down in Massachusetts.

 

The economy?

A picture is worth a 1000 words.....

 

Thanks! I needed a laugh. I wish you were wrong.

 

My job was "eliminated" in December and I have been looking for work since January 1. Nothing. I can't even get Wal-Mart to call me in -- maybe I'm over-qualified. Things are really tight here. My landlord's daughter is relocating from Minnesota to Colorado for her husband's job and their loan has been put on hold. He is supposed to start November 1, but they have no place to live.

 

Not a lot is different in rural New Mexico. We're pretty shielded out here.

Jobs: It's fall, so there generally aren't a lot of jobs available. Summer hires have already been gotten rid of or been assimilated into full fledged employees, yet there's still a decent number of jobs in the paper.

Essentials: Prices tend to be the thing that affect people the most. Everyone is very mad about the latest electric bill hike, and it was on the news last week (or the week before?) that we'll get another one next year. Food prices are steadily rising too, and there's a lot of grumbling about increases specifically in the basics.

Money: The upper crust of society has been diversifying their accounts, and urging others to do the same. The lower crust of society has been pawning things so fast the shops around here are full up.

Sheep: Mostly everyone is pretty clueless about what's actually going on. A co-worker asked 3 or 4 of us in the office to explain what the bailout was all about and she still didn't get it, because they "wouldn't do it if it wasn't going to help." Most are going about life as usual though, if just a little hacked off that they can't be as extravagant as they want.

Going out: There's really not a lot to do here. A lot of people tend to go out to eat as something to do. Driving in the evenings to the grocery store twice a week, I haven't seen hardly a soul at the usual "hangouts." Also, I hardly know anyone that went to the fair this past week, and that's usually a huge deal around here. I also know a few high rollers that are looking to sell their theatre tickets.

 

I was late on a car payment and the bank freaked out. That blew what's left of my mind.

I live just north of Detroit and the job/unemployment situation is truly abysmal.

I cannot speak about things in my workplace, as I work for the government and in a technical endeavor, but we are short one electrician, with little expectation that a replacement will be hired.

 

Some shops have changed ownership or gone under and yet that hasn't stopped the continual build up of more strip malls :xeye:. There are plenty of empty buildings of various sizes and locations that remain vacant and yet a new building is built within a mile of it .

Sales are getting better. I got a coupon in the mail the other day that had the highest discount % I ever gotten from this store (its a random % off amount), my mother who also shops there said she got the same amount off. Cars are very cheap but food is creeping up. DVD's keep dropping in price too.

My job is secure so I don't check the help wanted section.

One strange thing noticed is that store brands and selection have been changing. For example I used to get fig newton knockoffs from Acme. They don't carry them anymore nor do they have many other items from that brand. Instead another generic brand has popped up which is priced higher and doesn't compare to the stuff I was buying.

My states largest job market is in banking so when that goes things will get ugly real fast. For now everything looks routine.

 

I work in a supermarket. Yesterday the lines were lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng! I am changing prices every week on things that shouldn't be going up so quickly. Of all things, mops and brooms went up an average of $4 to $5 each, if you can believe that! I can understand a modest increase, but a price hike of that proportion is alarming! And that's just on mops and brooms. Food is going out of sight, at least here in Central Massachusetts.

Also, for the first time in a very long time I am not on the work schedule this upcoming weekend. Was it an oversight on management's part, or is my neighborhood store looking to shave some serious labor costs? I would have asked, but I need this weekend off anyway. Maybe there'll be more work-free weekends like this in my near future for all of us. :/

Claudia

 

LOL!!! So, it's all YOUR fault! I had to buy a new mop head today and it was $9!!! For a little piece of sponge with some metal on the back!!!

 

One more thing I forgot to add. It takes the state unemployment office at least 6 weeks to process you claim. That mean at least 6 weeks before your first check!

 

only takes about three days in maine but they withhold a week so you have to go one week with out a check

 

I am also witnessing more and more business properties going up for available leasing.

 

Another thing I forgot was that my local 24 hour supermarket now closes at 1am and reopens at 6am. Possibly saving power and labor costs durring slow times.

 

I live in Mississippi and my husband works in Memphis, Tn, he is a crain oper. on the river and his work has really slowed down over the past few weeks.
In Collierville, Tn, about 10 miles from my house, the 400 workers at Sewer Plastic were told last week that the plant is closing down in Dec.
Today on the news, they were talking about Desota county, Mississippi and how it is been hit hard.
People here are with out work, losing there homes because they can't pay they house notes,I know of some families who are moving in together.

 

If everyone keeps going to the stores to buy supplies that will at least assist with the whole bailout. So I do hope everyone keeps going out to spend more $$.

Living in the DC area I do not konw of anyone who lost their job or anyone doing bad that did not put themslevs in that spot. Stores are still busy in this area.

 

Sales at the company I work for are off 60%. We're a seasonal business, and if sales keep up likes they are now, the Christmas season will be abysmal. In May we laid off 1/3 of our people. If this keeps up, we're likely to see another 1/3 go after Christmas.

 

Just went to the bank to pull cash to buy silver, not many others making withdrawls, looked business as usual.

 

I work four jobs (in addition to graduate school). Three of those jobs are single-day a week situations, and my "bread and butter" is a funded research assistant position. I took the other jobs to save up some extra cash, and hedge out the slim possibility of losing my funding. Of my side jobs, two are in the food service industry. Strangely, this weekend was incredibly busy. I think that folks are going out to eat for comfort reasons. Immediately following 9/11, the food service industry got a huge boost, as people comforted themselves in the manner most befitting Americans.

Around my area, we're seeing a decline in the proverbial fat. Car dealerships, especially those that over-expanded their lines of credit, and failed to put a significant portion of their inventories into hybrids and high-MPG cars, are starting to fail. Likewise, furniture stores (which also go into debt to purchase their inventories) are hurting. A couple of the Mom & Pop shops have closed their doors, probably owing to the cost of rent. Most everything else remains solid, but I live in a relatively-affluent, and very insular community, which places a large emphasis on regional stores and locally-owned business. There are very few "big-box" places here, so currency is re-circulated in the local economy. Likewise, local infrastructure investment and town spending keeps this area highly desirable, so people are still flocking to the area.

The local discount stores are benefiting greatly from an increased focus towards cost-savings. Thrift stores, discount groceries, and co-ops are doing really well for themselves. The "slightly expired" health food store is even opening a second branch.

I expect that the economic slowdown will eventually end up closing some restaurants, many of the dealerships, and some of the poorly-managed, poorly-placed stores. I'd hope that the organic petfood store is the canary in the coalmine, but it remains open

 

My husband lost his job in May (after 17 years, company went under) and got a new one in August. ONly he is not hired in permanant yet, hes a contract worker.


I havent noticed my nieghbors having any trouble yet, the main thing is for people to keep thier jobs.

If you dont have a job and are looking for anything, there is stiff competition. I went on a job interview a few weeks ago and almost everyone there was way overqualified for the postion. Job probably paid $8-9 an hour and there were people 50+ with degrees in different areas. Really pathetic. So, how do you think someone with no degree is going to get work?

I think that there is a definite slowdown in retail. Families with double incomes pulling in $100 k a year still making up the majority of shoppers, i dont think they have changed much. Its the folks making 30 to 75 k that are really stuggling with inflation. This group is getting poorer and doesnt do the shopping they once did.

Just heard that private student loans are going on 11-14% now. Can you imagine?

 

Organic pet food, lol.

People who are willing to buy their pet this kind of food probalby buy it gourmet dog food at the mall and $50 dog collars with outfits to match.

They have such high incomes this ecomony hasnt even made a dent in their pocketbook yet.

My sister doesnt have pets, but she still goes on 3 vacations a year and takes her family skiing for christmas. This year, its colorado for christmas and hawaii for easter.

Dont be fooled by these folks who drive around in their brand new Escalades and then complain about $4 a gallon gas. They dont have a clue.

 

Okay, some new observations from the southwest:

Went to a drug store, and two gas stations, two out of three were out of Marlboro Reds.. two days in a row.

Saw some 10 for $10 sales going on at a local grocery store, so I went to go stock up on some of the items. I made a list of about 10 things that I use that I would buy 10 of. Only 3 of those items still had any stock on the shelves. (Zataran's, Biscuits, and baby food.) Noticed on the trip also that that particular store was running pretty low on flour, sugar, and rice and these items were not on sale. (I saw 2 big bags of sugar left, 1 big bag of rice, and maybe 5 little bags of flour.)

 

Our local council had major plans to turn around our town, they had a big presentation last year, and gave everyone the plans to show what was going to happen. It looked great, the amount of new things we were getting. Now, it seems as though its fallen through because two major shops have pulled out a few smaller shops have shut down and the council are in trouble, the only shops that are doing buisness are the cheap ones, and the few things the council have done have slowed to a halt, thank goodness we started prepping before.
Most of the people we know have their head in the sand, and one of our friends said she won't watch the news because they just tell you horrible things and she would rather not hear it.

 

I work as an IT contractor for the Government (in Disaster Recovery no less). We have been on hold for spending since the start of the fiscal year. We had several servers that were going to go belly up because their IIS certificates were due to expire and we didn't have the $$ to procure them...until the 11th hour.

Grocery stores around us still have plenty of stock, but they've cut back on cashiers and baggers, so lines are longer, and they've added more of those exasperating self-serve lanes.

Seen more cars by the side of the road out of gas...the roadside assist trucks will put 2-3 gallons in for you on the taxpayer dime...just have to wait for it.

Prices jacking up are what is killing me. I bought 3 bags of groceries yesterday...usually about $40 worth...was $83.00. We have been frequenting the discount stores looking for the 10 for $10 items. Our IGA has 10 for $20 on meats...bulk sausage, burger, large bacon pkgs, chicken legs, etc. We've filled up the freezer.

Our daughter graduated Mizzou with straight A's and got a 35K/yr job as an Admin Assistant...we still have to subsidize her for her to be able to make ends meet...her final year had to be financed...the other 3 we paid up. She got a raise recently, and a promotion, but doesn't amount to that much...more work, more responsibility, meager pay.

I've been in the job market when IT contracting positions were very, very hard to secure post 9/11...it's rough. We downsized. We cut back. Did what we had to do. I think a lot of middle America is doing the same.

 

I haven't noticed too much here in northern VA. I saw two people with tons of canned goods and bags of rice at the super market but most seem to be business as usual. Went to the bank to get out money for PM, I didn't see much at the bank maybe a few more people at the atm than usual, I keep picturing pulling up and seeing a streaming line out the front door.

 

More people using EBT (food stamps) cards at the supermarket I work at. It's annoying to deal with. I am pretty good at guessing which people will be using EBT when they walk in the store. Usually they have dirty clothes, crooked teeth and look 20 years older than they really are. People are using more coupons to save an extra 5 bucks. I had one bitchy EBT lady make me get the manager because she wanted to use 3 coupons when you're only allowed to use one. The manager let her use 3 just to get her bitch ass out of my face.

 

Small town midwest: 2 retail stores closing announced last week. 1 large retail store opening. Gas at $3.19 for regular unleaded. Stores stocked as usual. Don't see anything on the ground that really indicates much right now.

 

Great thread! In Texas, we have faired pretty well overall. Lots of new construction in the Dallas and Fort Worth area. Home prices are down some, but not much by comparison to the rest of the country. It is definately a buyers market. We closed on our house September 16. Got it for $215k---$10k under asking price and it had been reduced from 240K thirty days prior to that.

Some of the things I have noticed are:

1) Decline in restraunt business. Last night for example, we were the only diners in a well established local mexican food restraunt. Nowadays it is not uncommon to go to Red Lobster on a Friday or Saturday night and be seated right away (usually takes about 30 minutes).

2) Home depots are virtually empty with no wait.

3) Bought a 63" DLP HDTV last Sunday--it was delivered within the hour.

4) Diminished quantity of items stocked in stores and longer periods of time before it is restocked.

5) Car sales--a friend of mine last week bought a new F150 for under $ 12K.

6) I am seeing more and more people buying food items items in bulk/quantity.

7) In the past two weeks, people that I know who are not "preppers" have been bringing up stockpiling food/water and buying guns.

8) I have a 50% stake in a company that receives a good chunk of its revenue from medicare. Medicare has been getting slower on processing payments. It went from 7-14 days for electronic claims to nearly 30 days for the same.

9) The missus is a manager with a national title insurance company. Her office alone this year has laid off nearly 20 people. Two weeks ago, they were told to cut their payroll by 10%. Rather than laying anyone off, the managers all agreed to take a 5% paycut for the next six months and the rank and file employees lost their quarterly bonuses.

10) I also do sales with a consumer trade show in all major texas cities. We normally sell out of show space about a month prior to the show. This year, we are yet to sell out in any city, show attendance is down and we have cut floor space for the upcoming spring shows in 2009.

11) Last week it was reported that luxury item sales at the Texas State Fair are down by 80%. Things like hot tubs, outdoor kitchens, gazeebos etc.

12) Prices seem to be creeping up steadily. Paid .79 per box of mac n cheese at Walmart last week. Six months ago the same brand was .44 per box.

There are some others things, but I cant recall them now.

 

Great thread!


3) Bought a 63" DLP HDTV last Sunday--it was delivered within the hour.




I bought a new pc a last week and in the 30 minutes or so I was at/near the front counter, no less than 3 huge plasma tv's went out the door, 50-60" screens. Monsters People came in and picked them up. I watched as salesmen brought them out from the backroom, and they then open them for the buyer, and they inspect them before they take them.