What does the consumer economy look like where you live?

[coalition_unwilling]

I am curious what the view of the consumer economy is in your neck of the woods.

My wife and I went to the Westfield Culver City mall in Culver City, CA on Friday and Saturday to exercise. Both times we were there between 5 and 8 p.m. I was amazed how little shopping seemed to be going on either day. There were many people in the mall but they did not seem to be patronizing the retail establishments. Beats me why they actually were there.

One specific image stands out. There are 3 separate Foot Lockers in this mall (a regular Foot Locker, Ladies Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker). On Friday, we made roughly six passes past the three Foot Lockers over a 90-minute period and there were NO CUSTOMERS in any of the 3 at any time.

The mall my wife and I visited felt like a Ghost Town. Really spooky.

[w8liftinglady]

1. pretty sparce in BFE,Texas

henderson County is poor to begin with.We went to several stores yesterday...hardly any customers.hardly any at the movies.A lot at the bars.
large Mall in Arlington....lots of onlookers...few purchases.if they are like most of my friends,they have already maxed out the credit cards...
Welcome to Texas.

[coalition_unwilling]

2. The unemployment rate in California (U2) stood at 12.4%

at the end of October. What this means in practice, I'm guessing, is that 1 out of 4 working-age Californians is out of work or only working part-time hours.

My wife and I are not the world's greatest consumers and we probably go to a mall once or twice a year at most to buy anything. Even so, I was stunned at what I saw. Macy's and JC Penney were pretty much empty on Friday and only had a few customers on Saturday at this Culver City mall.

Are there any areas of the country where sales and the consumer economy are booming or doing reasonably well?

[CoffeeCat]

3. I'm in Des Moines, Iowa...

...and we went to Jordan Creek Mall this past Saturday. JCM is an upscale, huge mall surrounded by many strip malls, restaurants, hotels, etc.

I was astounded at how busy the mall was, how many shoppers were there and the long lines to purchase things. People were spending money
big time. You couldn't even walk in the Apple Store. And this was before Black Friday, so it was very surprising to me.

I also noticed the sales. Very steep cuts in price. Everyone in Bath & Body Works had coupons that they had rec'd in the mail. I used
a "Buy any item for $10, get any item up to $13 free" coupon. A great coupon. Justice (clothes for kids) had 40 percent off everything. Plus,
when you spend $50, you get a "$25 off $50" coupon when you shop there on Black Friday. I also got a $60 Tommy Hilfiger sweater for $13 after
sales/discounts.

The restaurants in the mall, and in the surrounding strip malls were all packed too.

My husband said it best, "Someone forgot to tell all of these people that there's a recession going on."

[coalition_unwilling]

4. Interesting and glad to hear that economic activity is strong. At

the Westfield Culver City mall, it seemed like just about every store was offering these heavy promotions (as in, "Buy one, get 2nd at half price" or, in the case of Victoria's Secret, "Spend $100 and get $25 gift card, blah, blah"). Even with all these promotions, the stores seemed empty.

Sounds like post-Black Friday discounting started early at your mall. But it also sounds as if money is circulating in your local economy, which is a good thing.

Edited for clarity and flow.

[OlympicBrian]

19. Big boom in farm belt due to high corn, soy, cotton prices...

There is actually some worry about a bust if people leverage against their farm land values.

[OlympicBrian]

20. Record U.S. Exports Reflect Midwest (Farm) Boom With 3.7% Unemployment

"As businesses across the U.S. struggle to recover from the deepest recession since World War II and the national jobless rate remains stuck at 9.6 percent, Johnson has benefited from his location in the northern Great Plains, where a boom in commodities, such as wheat and soybeans, is helping to create jobs, lift farmers’ incomes and fuel demand for goods ranging from Deere & Co. tractors and Agco Corp. combines to dinners at local restaurants."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-22/record-u-s-exports-from-farms-reflect-midwest-boom-with-3-7-unemployment.html

[marybourg]

5. In my immediate area (huge senior community) everything looked fine.

But when I looked in the Phoenix metro yellow pages for furniture stores to buy a new chair, I was shocked to find that the usual 20 or more pages of display ads for furniture stores had completely disappeared and there was only a column and a half of plain listings and many of them were disconnected when I called.

[coalition_unwilling]

7. Wow! I think the Phoenix area was pretty hard-hit during the

recent depression, especially the real estate sector and with it segments like home furnishings. What is the unemployment rate in Arizona right now?

[Odin2005]

6. It's being propped up a bit by the oil boom in western ND. Still anemic, tho.

[coalition_unwilling]

8. Any specific images or vignettes that stand out to you in ND? - n/t

[Odin2005]

9. I live on the MN side of the Red River (Moorhead rather than Fargo)...

And one thing I have noticed is that the mall here in Moorhead is DEAD. Half the stores are closed-up. In my rural hometown 45 miles NE of here the bar my mom managed went out of business last month.

[coalition_unwilling]

10. What was so weird and uncanny on Friday night is that there were

plenty of bodies in the Westfield Culver City Mall. But the people were not in the stores. Maybe they were all eating in the Food Court. And a Gold's Gym just opened there. But there is no movie theater in this mall and no broad cultural happenings going on there.

I remarked to my wife that I failed to see how the stores could remain open when they had no patrons.

Things seemed to pick up a little bit on Saturday, as would be expected. But even so, the stores seemed really empty based on what I remember of mall life pre-Depression.

[Odin2005]

11. The FARGO mall is doing OK, that is the weird thing.

[coalition_unwilling]

12. Wife and I will be going to the Westside Pavillion (close to UCLA) soon and

I will be very interested to see how it is faring. The WP mall is fairly close to the Westfield Culver City mall.

Maybe the lack of shopping activity at this Westfield CC mall is simply a fluke. But it was really surprising to see it. I guess all my reading about the effects of the financial collapse (here and elsewhere) was simply waiting for this does of reality to bring it home to me in a way that reading about it could not.

[coalition_unwilling]

13. Going to the Westside Pavillion shortly and will report on what I find when I get back.

I don't know how to keep this post in my My DU list, short of posting my own comment on it.

Apologize for the seeming self-promotion.

[Liquorice]

14. People are shopping up a storm in my area--I live in a suburb of Atlanta. nt

[coalition_unwilling]

15. What is the unemployment rate where you are? - n/t

[coalition_unwilling]

16. Update - Trip to Westside Pavillion on November 23, 2010

Yesterday my wife and I went a little further afield to the Westside Pavillion at the intersection of Pico and Westwood Boulevards. The WP is a bit more upscale than the Westfield mall I described initially. For one thing, there is no Target, no Old Navy and no Best Buy at the WP. Instead, the WP is anchored by a Nordstrom's and, in lieu of Old Navy, has a Banana Republic (the upscale relative to Old Navy and the Gap).

Again, the dominant feeling I had was that activity was quite muted. Now granted, this was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and the so-called 'Black Friday' stampede. But once again, in walking by Foot Locker and Lady Foot Locker (no Kids Foot Locker at WP), I was struck by a complete and total absence of customers. Same applies to most of the speciality apparel shops. Interestingly, the one shop that seemed to be having more than a few gawkers and idlers was a local shop, 'OC Design'.

Overall, though, I would have to say that I foresee a very shabby holiday season for these retailers. My wife noted that yesterday was a weekday and, while we were there between 5 and 7 p.m., most people shop in malls on the weekends. We may go there this coming weekend and, if so, I will try to provide a running commentary.

I do apologize for keeping this thread kicked. This is the only way I know how to do it so as to update it over time on a topic requiring deeper exposition than the typical DU drive-by post.

[robcon]

17. The Main Street of my suburban town is doing poorly.

I'd say one in 8 or 10 storefronts is vacant in my town.

Most chain stores, however, are doing fine, IMO. Home Depot and Lowe's showed recent same-store growth, as did many other major retailers.

[taught_me_patience]

18. Guns blazing at fashion island in Newport Beach

Of course this is the bastion of excessive consumerism.

[Blue_In_AK]

21. Anchorage hasn't been hit all that hard

by the recession, so I haven't noticed much difference from how it usually is.

[LWolf]

22. Consumer economy?

We don't have a big mall. We have something that passes for a small mall in the town about 15 miles to the south, but I've never actually been in there.

I drove into town to shop at Fred Meyer today for salad fixings and water. Water, because the pipes were frozen, already, and I need extra on hand. The place was packed. I saw 3 other families that I know there. The "consuming" seemed to be all about Thanksgiving dinner.

[bluestate10]

23. Busy where I live in Massachusetts.

I live in the first or second wealthiest county in the Commonwealth, so what I am seeing may be an aberration.