[bratticus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pretorian', 'S')eriously guys, what did you expect to find there? Fallen shelves, rotting bodies of salesmen scattered around the store?

[Byron100]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('bratticus', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pretorian', 'S')eriously guys, what did you expect to find there? Fallen shelves, rotting bodies of salesmen scattered around the store?

[bratticus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Byron100', 'K')now what I'd love to see? A national, grass-roots movement of "buyer's strikes"

[EndOfGrowth]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Snowrunner', 't')he Brits, meanwhile, seem to be getting concerned: link

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('EndOfGrowth', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Snowrunner', 't')he Brits, meanwhile, seem to be getting concerned: link

[Snowrunner]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('bratticus', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Byron100', 'K')now what I'd love to see? A national, grass-roots movement of "buyer's strikes"

[JoeW]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cbxer55', 'Y')ou got a bunch of spare parts for your suckbag stored away? No. I thought so. Neither do I. But I do keep a spare suckbag in the attic, just in case.

[IgnoranceIsBliss]

I was in the Orlando, FL area over the holidays. Parking lots of the local malls were crowded and appeared full.

Victoria's Secret had a huge line at the cash register. I would never buy that over priced stuff ($49 for Pajamas), but I had a gift card from our wedding 4+ years ago. Didn't spend any of it due to the crowds, but will soon in case they go belly up.

We went to Christmas brunch at an upscale hotel in the Lake Mary area (near Heathrow). It was packed even though the cost was $32 per person. I overheard a manager say that they had already served 500 people ($16,000 gross revenue) by 1PM when we got there and it was still going strong when we left.

I did notice an alarming number of vacant stores in the Altamonte Springs/ I-4 area (a really crowded suburb just north of Orlando). There used to be a "bargain" priced steak house there which was always crowded & had people waiting outside, but they are out of business now. Gateway computer store is also gone. I went to visit my friend and she told me to "turn at the boarded up Eckerd drug store building" as directions to her house.

[Serial_Worrier]

The chain restaurants around where I live are always packed on the weekends. Grocery stores packed. Big box retailers pretty packed as well.

[the48thronin]

January 5 I "visited' 3 J C Pennys stores in Delaware while my wife delivered the same roll out of new racks to 5 in Florida. In 18 days just before new years a new set of cloths racks was shipped to every J C Pennys in the USA. ( I didn't bother to check which department is getting them.)

Loads scheduled for more roll outs so J C is not planning to stop replacing display racks as per usual.

One other retailer I also carry roll outs for has canceled all loads this year. Different owners.

Sears roll outs are according to a friend who does sears on schedule on volume so far.

As to shopping, I spent several hundred dollars in Kohls after Christmas at 70 percent off I bought some shirts and a sport coat to wear on the cruise next week.

The ship is sailing Sunday... You all keep the fires warm while I am vaccationing... Oh and while I am celebrating my 61st birthday in Belice... I'll try to remember to hoist one for all of you up in the Nanook country...LOL

FWIW all three store managers did say sales numbers are way down this year.

[Serial_Worrier]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('the48thronin', 'J')anuary 5 I "visited' 3 J C Pennys stores in Delaware while my wife delivered the same roll out of new racks to 5 in Florida. In 18 days just before new years a new set of cloths racks was shipped to every J C Pennys in the USA. (I didn't bother to check which department is getting them.)
Loads scheduled for more roll outs so J C is not planning to stop replacing display racks as per usual.
One other retailer I also carry roll outs for has canceled all loads this year. Different owners.
Sears roll outs are according to a friend who does sears on schedule on volume so far.
As to shopping, I spent several hundred dollars in Kohls after Christmas at 70 percent off I bought some shirts and a sport coat to wear on the cruise next week.
The ship is sailing Sunday. You all keep the fires warm while I am vaccationing. Oh and while I am celebrating my 61st birthday in Belice. I'll try to remember to hoist one for all of you up in the Nanook country...LOL
FWIW all three store managers did say sales numbers are way down this year.

[bratticus]

I saw a pawn shop up for lease today. It was right next to a Realtors

If it wasn't raining all day I would be carrying my camera. Someone has to photojournal the early 2nd Great Depression (2GD)

[Maddog78]

Not that much different around here. (outside of Vancouver, B.C.)

My daughter's b.f. is a manager at a Best Buy and he said the bigger ticket items like laptops and big TV's were not selling as well but lower priced items were moving fast. They sold over 100 ipods the Sat. before Xmas.

[TreebeardsUncle]

This is also nbd.

Total retail space in the states increased 100% between 1990 and 2005, 3x demographic and sales growth. These stores were supported through excessively leveraged investment as well as over-spending by consumers through too much use of credit cards and Di-Tech-type home loans. Now, there will be some trimming back. On another note, some folks are considering whether bio-fuels will make up for oil depletion. Oil depletion may end up being nbd as well.

Lates.
g

[Atlantean_Relic]

I'm not seeing how this isn't a big deal, Even if we have twice as many stores as we need, what do you propose we do with all the people that work at these stores? They sure won't be automotive factory workers. Maybe we should ship them to Iraq and colonize the place?

[jdmartin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Lanthanide', 'I') haven't actually personally met any myself, but I'm not actually from the same country that you are.
When I worked at The Warehouse here, which is our (lame) equivalent of Walmart, we frequently got in customer's TVs, VCRs, stereos and vacuum cleaners and sent them away for repair, both in an out of warranty, to a place called Saxon's Appliances. Very seldom did anything come back as being uneconomical or impossible to repair.
So, regardless of what you might like to think, repairmen (and companies) still exist, and so the question still stands.

[Micki]

Not too shabby meddley of Christmas songs with contemporary texts.
[video width=425 height=344]http://www.youtube.com/v/TWiXy55OHyY&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1[/video]

Darn, I don't know why my youtube windows won't show.
Link; youtube

[bratticus]

]

[jdmartin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('bratticus', '[')url=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3457/3177236111_c8dcc177f7_b.jpg]][/url]

[bratticus]

Indulge



Click photos to see more details.