Local business slowdown stories

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i work in a south county city, and usually goes out for lunch during the week. I have noticed that the lunch crowd is way down...I will say it is as bad as the weeks after 9/11.
 
Recently, I've noticed that almost every retail store I've been in has a help wanted sign in the window which doesn't seem to fit with the slowing economy theory. I guess it could just be the hiring for the holidays but it seems kind of early. or maybe people are leaving Orange County in record numbers.
 
Hasn't there pretty much always been help wanted signs? I thought there were 3 jobs i Irvine for every Irvine resident. Problem then is that the low paying jobs are hard to fill as people who can't afford to live nearby don't see the point in communting all this way for a low paying job - might as well just get one of those near their home.
 
Speaking of signs, I find it odd that there are so many places for sale on Redfin, but I don't see an increase in "Open House" signs on weekends. In fact, there may even be a decrease. What's up with that? Do some realtors now have a different job on the weekends to make ends meet, but just keep taking listings? Did some of the harder working successful agents who used to do Open Houses just take a year off? Don't really get it.
 
Waves of workers now are showing up at the unemployment office as the job market dries up.

http://www.ocregister.com/money/mortgage-job-says-1887300-workers-one
 
Anyone go out on Black Friday? Things seem more or less busy? I went out, just so I could say I did it, and went to Spectrum Center 6:30pm-10:00pm. Cars staking out for parking spots on the lower 2 levels, despite signs indicating mostly empty up above - 4th floor was mostly empty when I parked.

Mall was packed, lots of people roaming around, many with bags. Nordstroms was deserted. Forever 21 was a madhouse. Target had moderate traffic, had fun buying sweat pants and T-shirts for my son for $3.33 each there. Apple store (which had a 1 day sale) was packed, every workstation was taken.

Also, saw something interesting a few days beforehand, a man with several well worn holes in his jeans buying 48 gift cards for 1 store at Albertsons with a gold credit card. Albertsons had some kind of special on (ex. buy a giftcard for X, we'll add Y onto it). Maybe he got himself a sweet loophole on the black Friday sales (ex. get expensive thing Z at Black Friday price with a discount provided by Albertsons when you pay for it with the many gift cards each valued at X + Y).

BTW - by way of comparison, here is an article (http://nytimes.com/2007/11/24/business/24shop.html?pagewanted=1&ex=1353560400) on how New York fared this Black Friday
 
Eating out is getting lonelier

Restaurants are feeling the pinch as people cut back on their spending in the face of tightening household budgets.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-restaurants24nov24,1,4065752.story?coll=la-headlines-business&ctrack=1&cset=true
 
I don't know who did the marketing for Macy's but the Friday before Black Friday. I purchased a griddle for $16.00 regular price was $39.99 and a 12-piece set pot and pans for $20.00 regular price was $99.99 I went back on Black Friday and the prices for the same items went up: $29.99 for the griddle and $59.99 for 12-piece set. What the...

As for Circuit City, I was there at 5 AM. The line of customers went around the back of the store. In their ads, they showed the newer model Sony bravia on sale. When I got into the store after a 30 minutes wait. I was disappointed when the sales guy showed me the actual Sony model was that of last year's. Then I noticed a flyer under the (aqua blue) 8 gigs Ipod. The flyer stated $149.00. Then another sales guy said, "Oh, no. The price applies to the (silver) 4 gigs Ipod." Hmm...feels like the old bait and switch. Oh well...

I did went back on Saturday and a nice sales guy name, Stanley, price matched a 37" Toshiba. Got like $330 off!! But let me tell you. I will never wake up early ever again for Black Friday.
 
We went by the Mission Veijo mall on Saturday, and it was not busy. I was joking with my wife that the HELOC money in Ladera must have been shut off. I would not be surprised to see some stories about a bleak shopping season this week.
 
ScrewRE:

Toshiba 37" Regza. It was selling for approx. $1100 at Circuit City. Costco sold it for $899.00 so Circuit City did the price match plus 10% off the difference. The salesman, Stanley, was very helpful. He called Costco and within minutes completed the transaction. Prior to him some sales kid said to me, "Uhhh. No, we don't call the competitors."

IR:

I did notice it wasn't hard to find a parking space at South Coast Plaza on Sat./Sun. as compares to years past.
 
It's not local, but it was shocking still the same. I went back to Scottsdale over the 4 day weekend. (I've only been out here since 2005) I went to a PF Changs in downtown Tempe on Saturday night at about 8:30. Normally I would expect to have to wait for an hour to get a seat. Not only were we able to get a table immediately, but only about 15% of the tables were occupied.
 
I gave up trying to wait in line for the black Friday deals, it was nuts. My friend went to wait in line at 4am but didn't get anything good, because all the people who have been waiting since the day before got in first and grabbed the goods.

Also made the mistake of going to South Coast Plaza... OMG the place was a zoo. But I had to get a gift card at Pottery Barn for Kids, and had to wait in line for quite some time.

Costco was giving away free cookbooks... but ran out yesterday.
 
Momopi,

Hahaha, I know what you mean. It was the first time and will be the last. I had always wanted to see what all the "hoop-la" was about. So I woke up and headed to Circuit City at 5 AM on Black Friday. It was crazy. By the time I got there, the line was so long that it wrapped around the store. Even if I did find a good deal, I wouldn't have purchase it. The thought of waiting in another long line to the cash register. Blahhh
 
I went to Toys R Us at Tustin Ranch at 7am (the store opened at 5am) on Black Friday and it was a zoo! I think that since the Santa Ana Toys R Us closed (last year?), I expected the Tustin store to be packed but it was insane.

There were several lines of carts snaking throughout the store, waiting to get to a cashier. It was hard to even walk around the store just because of the lines of carts blocking your way. I bumped into someone who said that she got there when it opened and waited in line for 30 minutes to buy her toys.

Granted, there were some great deals, I just didn't want to wait in line so left.

Hope there some good deals online :)
 
I used to get up and do the Black Friday thing. Never, ever again. It's just not worth it to deal with the lines and crowds and the stores never having the advertised items in stock by the time you get there.
 
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