business has been kinda slow -- ok, let me be more specific -- business has been non-existent on etsy these days. the last sale i had was feb. 4th. i've had a couple of sales locally, but business locally has been pretty non-existent, too. on etsy there r tons of threads in the forums about it as well. everybody is having a bad time. i wonder if the local big box retailers r having as bad a time (i kind of doubt it but u never know). several of the smaller independent locals r going out of business, which is kinda sad to see. having closed a store myself, i know what this feels like.
a week or so ago we discovered that Hollywood Video was going out of business. its like walkable from our apt. and one of only two real video rental places. but i guess they felt like they couldn't compete with comcast on demand and netflix. i don't have either one of those -- and i know a lot of ppl who don't. when i made mention of the fact that we enjoyed renting movies there, someone suggested we try the "red box". i've seen them popping up around the area but i'm not sure i want to give some red box my credit card. something just doesn't sit well there. and i can't afford comcast on demand or netflix on a regular basis because we don't watch that many movies -- we might rent a movie once a month or less (thinking we probably contributed to the demise of hollywood video because we didn't rent more often). and honestly, i feel really badly for the ppl who r losing their jobs because of it.
the other store that is going out of business is our local birkenstock store. to some folks this is a non-issue coz they wouldn't be caught dead with a birkenstock on their foot. for me ... its the only shoe i wear because i have foot and back issues and i know they would be a lot worse if i wore something else (coz i've tried). but i didn't shop there very often either because birkies if they rn't on sale r really expensive and i could only afford them when they had sales (which wasn't often). so again -- probably contributed to their demise. but now i wonder what i will do now to get birkies for my poor feet. its not like we have a mall close by (read the mall shopping blog and u'll understand). again, ppl without jobs.
i hear all this stuff on the news about the economy getting better, but i don't see it. i don't have a job, so what r all these ex-employees of birkenstock and hollywood video going to do?
the other bad part of this is that when u close a store, u have a going out of business sale and then ppl u never saw in ur store before come in looking for bargains (which in itself isn't a bad thing), but feels to the business owner like their being taken advantage of (which, of course they r). i know, because i've been through this. yet who can resist a really good sale????
idk -- i wish i could say i see a glimmer of hope on the horizon for business owners -- the small ones i mean because it seems like the big boxes will survive no matter what. especially the wal-marts because in tough times everybody needs a place to buy things cheaply. i'm just praying that things pick up soon for all of us ...
1 comment:
It's very true...I see stores closing up all the time. Who knows what the future holds...we must place our trust in God. He promises in His word that we would be fed and clothed...I have seen His provision time and time again.
As to redbox, I've rented from them...because $1 is a descent price and I hardly ever rent a movie in the first place. You can do it online, they reserve it for you at the box...just go pick up the video. Not too bad...and it saves me seeing a bunch of crud in a video store. =)
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