Just thought I would post a comment about the economy. For all the gloom and doom we see on TV, I was not seeing that at all last week. I just happened to visit two shopping malls, one in San Diego and one in Escondido, CA and I could not believe the shoppers. Had to drive around for a while in both of them to get a parking spot and then the shoppers were just flooding the stores and buying things like even at higher priced stores like Nordstroms.
Maybe there were a lot of tourists or familes getting a head start on school, but I was shocked at what I saw. I know from the news and newpaper, that there certainly are big problems going on, many forclosesures and bankruptcies but wow the shoppers are sure out there. Maybe they are just maxing out their credit cards before they file bankruptcy. Any ideas as to what may be happening?
Posted by: silver Date posted: Sun Aug 3 10:21:15 2008
Message: check out www.nationalpriorities.org to see what various types of government spending might buy if used otherwise. For example, the cost of the war in Iraq per capita in my city alone would buy health insurance for a year for more than the population of my city. Pretty dramatic, especially when people are losing health coverage. Also shows what that money could buy in terms of teachers, etc. Very interesting.
Posted by: Barb Date posted: Fri Jul 25 18:25:18 2008
Message: Could those shoppers you saw be out spending their newly received gov.refund checks to give a boost to the economy? Just a thought!
San Diego is very popular with canadians and here in Britich Columbia the economy is humming and with the dollar at par with the US dollar it is possible that a lot of Canadians from BC and Alberta are driving down to California to shop as they think they get better deals there.
My son and daughter-in-law and their two kids left yesterday to do the *Cascade Tour* ending up in Seattle where I am sure they will be doing as much shopping as Canadian Customs allows.
Perhaps some of the cars in the parking lots at those malls were rentals from people who flew into San Diego.
Posted by: maggimae Date posted: Wed Jul 23 1:34:26 2008
Message: Well, Janie, we got a nice surprise in the mail today. My husband is a retired salary GM employee. GM is dropping all our health insurance as of the first of the year. They can't do that with hourly employees because they have a union. My husband and I are very frugal and it looks like we will be tightening our belts even more. Sigh.
Posted by: Tosca Date posted: Tue Jul 22 23:23:59 2008
Message: Malls are virtually empty during the week where I live. The movie theaters are also empty, with the exception this week of the Batman movie. My kids said it was 90% full tonight (it's a Tuesday) and it was a $3.00 theater. There aren't lines at the restaurants at all. If anyone uses Restaurants.com, they have been having 70% off their coupon prices, which means the restaurants are hurting for customers and will sell 25 dollar gift certificates for 3 bucks. So while I guess some areas might still be hopping. Mine isn't.
Janie, I just got from shopping at the White Oaks Mall in Springfield, Il. and I was surprised that there were not very many shoppers out. I shopped at Macy's, Bergners, and Linens & Things, and it was very easy getting around because there were very few shoppers. I love it when it is like that. I was able to park close to all three stores. I don't know if I just hit a lucky day, or if in this part of the country the people are not buying. I am sure the Mall is packed on a week end, that is why I go during the week.
People with families have to cut back on their spending with gas prices so high. More people will be shopping at Walmart instead of the better stores, and eating at home instead of eating out.
