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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.
AL, I really like you and I value your opinions.
I was just hoping for something... oh, a little more definitive. [img]smile.gif[/img]
BTW, you still owe me email. [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img]
Let me just say that when anytime a Hot Topic opens up, it's a good thing. However, I agree with the majority here as the new stores are opening up, but I am not getting any more money to shop in these stores.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I've mentioned it before, but my brother and his wife fit that profile.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?
I can't tell you how many times they've turned in their car and gotten a new one. And not just a car, but a nice, big Explorer. I can't tell you how many times they've changed furniture. They live the good life.
Someone is buying this stuff.
I'm a catalogue freak. I'm the kind of person who looks, but doesn't buy unless the planets are all aligned and it's some type of unique occasion and I actually have change in my pocket.
I get catalogues from Restoration Hardware, Rejuvenation Hardware, Pottery Barn. I look at them all. Their offerings are so overpriced, and I'm not convinced of the quality. But someone has to be buying that crap or else they wouldn't be printing the catalogue.
Well the proccess still holds true for "needs shoppers".
The basis of a consumer driven economy is the breakdown of it's parts.
Lets say you buy a loaf of bread.
Many would say that you just spent money at the store for the bread, but in fact you put money into an etire chain of events that affect many businesses all the way from the farmer to grewq the wheat to the trucks that delever it and the baker who baked it and the company that made the bags that it came in...
Same thing goes for services.
You get an oil change.
Not only does the place where you got the oil change get a part of it but so does the manufacturer of the oil, and the company that made the filter, and the company that made the tools used to change your oil. Even the company that supplies the uniforms and makes the rags that the mechanics used to clean up.
They all get a part of it.
A simple purchase effects not just the place where it was made, but also all the places that were involved in the making of that item.
So even if you only shop for needs and dont often shop for "want items" you are still an important cog in this consumer driven economy.