Come in! Come in!

"If you are a dreamer, come in. If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, a Hope-er, a Pray-er, a Magic Bean buyer; if you're a pretender, come sit by my fire. For we have some flax-golden tales to spin. Come in! Come in!" -- Shel Silverstein

Friday, November 21, 2008

Sign of the Times?


Recession? What recession?

You can "google" this information from lots of sources, but Bill sent me this one from here, which seems most consistent with other sources.

I know my "Christmas Wish List" has been seriously cut. My family is, likewise, looking at gifts that are more "practical" as well as homemade.

That being said, it's also a sign of the times to be more generous with others whose "practical needs" are much more serious than our own.

What to get for that 'person who has everything'? How about a generous contribution in her/his name to an agency that helps those in need - at home or around the world?

Anyway, looks like too many of us will have too many places left to do our Christmas Shopping. Pray for all those who have or will lose their jobs. Pray for the leadership of this country. Pray for an end to the greed in our own hearts which equates getting "more stuff" with greater happiness that the greed in human hearts will be transformed into generosity.

Circuit City
155 stores closing
6 in NE Ohio
2 will remain open in NE Ohio

Ann Taylor

117 Stores to close nationwide
Closings planned over the next 3 years
No specifics announced

Lane Bryant

40 Stores closing nationwide

Fashion Bug

100 stores closing nationwide

Catherine’s


10 stores closing nationwide

KB Toys

150 stores closing nationwide
Akron location remains open

Eddie Bauer

27 stores closing nationwide

Cache

14 stores closed but several others open

CompUSA

All stores closed

Dillards

Closed Middletown, Ohio store in April

Disney Store

98 stores closed nationwide

Home Depot

15 stores closed nationwide
2 in Ohio – Findley & Lima
Won’t open 50 stores planned for 2009
Hurt specifically byeal estate crisis

Talbots

78 men's and children's stores closed by September

Fifteen furniture chains
closed last year, up from 10 in 2006 and five in 2005, according to Furniture/Today, a trade publication. Two of the largest, Wickes and Domain, closed this year.

Pacific Sunwear

154 remaining Demo stores closing

Foot Locker

140 stores closing by end of 2008

Linens N’ Things

371 stores liquidating
All set to be closed by Jan. 1

Macy’s

Already Closed: Rolling Acres Mall
Akron Canton Centre, Canton
Randall Park Mall, North Randall

Movie Gallery

160 stores as part of reorganization plan to exit bankruptcy

Zales

100 Stores

J. C. Penney, Lowe’s and Office Depot
are scaling back or delaying expansion. Office Depot had planned to open 150 stores this year, but will now open 75.

Sprint Nextel
125 retail locations

2 comments:

JimB said...

Even when the economy bottoms and begins a recovery, a lot of those jobs are not coming back. Web marketing has for all practical purposes obsoleted a lot of retail. And that is going to make the investment in malls look sort of punk indefinitely.

We need to learn how to offer re-training to people who get caught in the cross-hairs. My dau-in-law has a buddy whose hubby was a store manager. His job went away not because he failed but because the market changed. How dose he support a child and a mortgage while he learns new skills? That is a real problem and Congress has not solved it by adding a quarter to unemployment comp. We need some real thinking and most importantly acting on it.


FWIW
jimB

Brother David said...

If you want a great holiday vacation deal come to Mexico! Today the rate is 13.79 pesos to the dollar. It hovered around 10 to 1 for years.

The last month or two has been difficult. Prices rise weekly in the stores! My bi-weekly trip to the grocery store was usually MX$850.00. The same items yesterday were MX$1264.00.

God bless us everyone.