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Always a good sign.
In this region alone, we have new malls opening all over which is a good sign as well.
RETAIL SALES RISE
More money in Americans pockets means more consumption. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]
[img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Huh?Quote:
Originally posted by cincygreg:
Always a good sign.
In this region alone, we have new malls opening all over which is a good sign as well.
RETAIL SALES RISE
More money in Americans pockets means more consumption. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]
[img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]
We are already over retailed here.
Perhaps you should read up on the overextension of consumer debt in this country.
Let's see...
New stores and malls means more jobs at both the hourly and salary levels. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]
More working Americans means more Americans able to "consume". [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]
Not all Americans just run up credit cards when they shop.
Smart shopping is still shopping. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]
How's the weather in your cave reason? [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img]
You cannot possibly think new retail is a good thing......do you.....really???? [img]eek.gif[/img]
Have you noticed how many "Available for lease" signs there are in our strip malls, indoor malls, office parks etc?
What was wrong with these spaces?
Every new concrete monument to consumer greed is less green space, less space for parks, and family recreation areas.
I hate new retail....
cincygreg, I really like you, but reason is right on this issue.
More stores might mean more employees, but there are only so many dollars to spend in this region, and too many Americans are already overspent, so spending from them SHOULD shrink. If the same or fewer dollars are spent at MORE stores, then there will be jobs lost from stores going out of business.
Retail stores do not increase the GNP, so unless the amount of funds available increases, from increases in GNP or freeing up of credit, the amount of spending will not go up by more than inflation.
More businesses in a region that is not growing fast enough to support them will mean a concomitant number of business failures.
You can trust me on finace issues, I'm an engineer/biological scientist. [img]biggrin.gif[/img]
First, I am all for parks and greenspace and beleive that we have an awesome park system in this area.
Second, yes we do need to encourage shopping so that businesses dont close (leaving empty stores)
And it all follows in line.
Shopping=jobs not only in the stores themselves but in distribution (transportation) and manufacturing and even the import/export business
So I think it's a good sign, just my opinion.
[img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]cool.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I am a smart shopper for the most part, except when it comes to food. Otherwise, I pay off my credit cards every month and save a better than average percentage of my income.Quote:
Not all Americans just run up credit cards when they shop.
Smart shopping is still shopping.
But as you well know, greg, I am much, much, much better than average.
As an aggregate, the American consumer has piled on debt like nobody's business, and it really is the aggregate that matters. We've become so addicted to low interest rates and "free" money that we spend like no tomorrow. This is simply something that cannot continue.
I personally accumulated about $16,000 of home improvement debt. And over the last 2.5 years, I've transferred that debt from zero percent credit card to zero percent credit card.
Predicting the rise of interest rates (which really never happened) and the end of the sweetheart deals, I've begun to pay that debt down. It's $2,900 at last count.
Point being that most people don't think about what happens when the interest rate climbs on that debt.
In a letter to the editor in today's Wall Street Journal, a reader cited a source saying that the average American has over $8,000 in credit card debt. That's the average. Most of that isn't zero percent. Assuming a rather good 9% interest rate, that's $720 a year in added fees.
Watch what happens to consumer demand when interest rates go up, mortgage rates go up.
<font color="#000002"><font size="1">[ October 15, 2004 05:00 PM: Message edited by: reason ]</font></font>
<font color="#000002" size="1">[ October 16, 2004 11:14 AM: Message edited by: reason ]</font>
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">On the face of it, you're probably right. The problem is that the American consumer has been consistently spending more than he is making. That's the problem. That's something that simply cannot continue. Eventually it's a bubble that will have to burst.Quote:
And it all follows in line.
Shopping=jobs not only in the stores themselves but in distribution (transportation) and manufacturing and even the import/export business
So I think it's a good sign, just my opinion.
I've personally been anxious about a number of events, so instead of investing, I've been paying down debt. But America as a whole has been on a spending binge, whether it be new houses, new cars bought with zero percent deals, or a whole host of other unnecessary consumer goods.
Maybe someone can explain this to me, because I've puzzled over it for years.
I'm simply not a shopper. I will buy clothes when I absolutely have to. I will buy things for the house (towels, sheets, etc.) when I absolutely have to.
Admittedly, I'm a bit of a power tool whore, but I just don't understand who spends $80+ for a sweater from Ann Taylor.
Who buys the stuff that fills the malls? Who buys the cars that fill acres on Colerain Avenue?
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">People not like you.Quote:
Originally posted by gae:
Maybe someone can explain this to me, because I've puzzled over it for years.
I'm simply not a shopper. I will buy clothes when I absolutely have to. I will buy things for the house (towels, sheets, etc.) when I absolutely have to.
Admittedly, I'm a bit of a power tool whore, but I just don't understand who spends $80+ for a sweater from Ann Taylor.
Who buys the stuff that fills the malls? Who buys the cars that fill acres on Colerain Avenue?
People not like me.
People not like reason.