How is the Economy in Your Area
I would like to know your opinions on the U. S. Economy and how your local areas are doing. I am in a city of approximately 25,000 people in South Eastern Iowa and our economy is poor in good times. About 60% of the population here is retired or on public assistance. Business has always been good at my shop until August of this year.
I run a small specialty gun shop and have seen a major drop in sales, both locally and on the Internet, since the middle of August. The hunting season has not caused much improvement. It seems most of the businesses in this part of the country, both large and small, are experiencing similar drops in sales.
Opinions please.
I run a small specialty gun shop and have seen a major drop in sales, both locally and on the Internet, since the middle of August. The hunting season has not caused much improvement. It seems most of the businesses in this part of the country, both large and small, are experiencing similar drops in sales.
Opinions please.
0
-
My area is doing great,.....although the real estate market is down of course.
All is well here![;)]0 -
I'm in Western IA. and with the corn and soybean prices up this year, we are doing good. You take $100 per acre more income and it adds up across the county.
Rick0 -
We have been in business here in Upstate NY 83 years . Family run .. the last two years the gun/sporting goods business is WAY down for us .. gas prices, rising gun and AMMO prices, decrease in hunters , internet sellers, all killing mom and pop and the small town retail business. It wont be long before we are all gone .. trust me its going to happen .. 0 -
I am just west of you in SE South Dakota. It is booming here. Lots of construction and jobs.
4x4 diesel pickups can't stay on the dealer lots quick enough for a guy to buy one. Lots of farmers buying new implements. New banks being built.0 -
Never has been that great here. And for the last 10 years since the paper mills and shoe factories have closed it sucks. 0 -
OryGun sucks.
Doug0 -
Gunnison is going good, housing market has stalled, to many properties for sale. Banks are no longer loaning money like they where.
Cattlemen say its down, hay prices are all that is keeping them afloat.
Tourism hasn't slowed. hotels are reporting higher than usual occupancy for this years hunting season.
Contractors here have their pick of projects, and without a GMP they can munipulate the numbers and profit. at a rate of about 12% on everything including labor, material after market, ect..
Big money is still coming into Crested Butte and Mount Crested Butte.
We have 10, million dollar residence slated to break ground this spring. 2, multi-million dollar condo projects going into the design development phase. And will go out for permit sometime in spring '09.
All in All it looks healthy0 -
Central Florida, nothing great, housing is really in the tank. 0 -
Northern Indiana-
seems a little sluggish because of detroit's problems. not bad though.0 -
SE Idaho is booming in all phases, especially real estate and home building.
Clouder..0 -
Doing fine in my neck of the woods.
Houseing prices are actually still riseing a little bit and everyone seems to have money to spend.0 -
How is the economy in my neck of the woods ??? HHmmm, now that is a damn good question and damned hard to answer.
Lets see, in 1977, I made 10,000 dollars, I had a 9 year old Ford Pickup that was worth about 500 dollars. My rent was 75 dollars a month ...landlord jacked it to 100 and I got mad and moved. Found a place for 85 a month. Enjoyed steak whenever I decided to splurge.
30 years later in 2007, I made 100,000 dollars, I have a 10 year old Ford pickup that is worth about 5000 dollars. My mortgage was 750 dollars a month, got adjusted to 1000 and I got mad and refied for 850 a month. I enjoy steak whenever I decide to splurge.
How's the economy ?? About the same, except I am surrounded by 4 better walls and my 98 F150 is a much better truck than my old 68 F100.
Damned shame ..the rich get richer ...the poor get poorer ... the working man just gets a better pickup !0 -
(Some C&P, some not)
One of the counties around here, had THE HIGHEST foreclosure rate in the country. Metro Denver foreclosure filings rose in August. Through the first eight months of the year, public trustees reported a 43% increase in foreclosure filings over the same period last year, with the strongest year-to-date increases seen in Denver (+69.7%), Adams (+44.7%), and Douglas (+39.3%) Counties.
The number of homes under contract has dropped considerably, falling almost 11% between July and August. New home construction in Metro Denver slowed considerably between June and July. The number of permits issued declined 45%.
Employers expect to hire FEWER employees in the final quarter this year, compared to last year.
Consumer Confidence Index for the Mountain region dipped to 125.2 in August from 137.6 in July. Both the present situation and future expectations indexes registered declines, as they did in six of the remaining eight U.S. regions.
Metro Denver's lodging industry experienced weaker trends in August.
But the economy is doing fine. Bush said so.0 -
Cleveland/NE Ohio is slow. If you aren't in the "favored areas" of NEW YORK or LA/SAN DIEGO you are screwed. 0 -
Housing is in really bad shape out here with most places loosing $100,000 to $200,000 in value in the past 6 months. Retail is also become very slow in the past month. Just 1 month ago I was sellign 35 to 40 guns a day, now we are down to 12 to 15 per day. Plus the store is cutting hours. The christmas rush is about to begine so all of that is going to turn around soon. 0 -
Houston has been OK since 1989 and it wasn't all that bad before 1989. Engineering firms can't hire enough qualified people. Huge numbers of jobs have been returning to take advantage of the low dollar and high productivity. Many are working unlimited hours.
Housing, I'd suppose, is slower but there never was a "boom". I've not noticed any inflation but 2% per year is still 20% in ten years.
I think those that bought maybe $500 worth of stock in Walmart or ???? in 1977 have about $400,000 plus dividends and a lot of those folks have left the area to take advantage of prices in smaller towns or on the lakes.0 -
I`m in southern Michigan
Plenty of houses for sale and in forecloser.Few have the money to buy.This used to be a manufacturing town,but most of those jobs are gone forever.This state is in the toilet and swirling down.0 -
Here. in Palm Beach County, well... U know...
Jeff0 -
Seems OK here in Northern Illinois....No major companies have moved out in quite some time. Most of the houses in my neck of the woods were reapprasied 5-10% higher than last year in spite of the "Housing Crisis"....
The gun shops that I frequent have not talked about business being off.
Hope sales heat up soon for you AccuCast....0 -
quote:Originally posted by pickenup
(Some C&P, some not)
But the economy is doing fine. Bush said so.
Same here. Rural prices are dropping like after a nucular explosion. I am so glad I didn't buy! [:D]0 -
South Louisiana is jumpin'. If ya ain't workin' it's because your lazy or dead. 0 -
Its the same here in western NY, ups and downs. Buffalo and Rochester are still trying to recoop their once great citys. 0 -
Where are you in Western NY ? 0 -
Denver is doing okay. The housing market is in the schitter, but we were one of the first regions of the country to experience the horrible housing market. "Experts" are already stating that the housing market will be turning very soon for this region.
However, this weekend one of my favorite neighbors moved out, and there's a foreclosure notice on his front door now.0 -
genesee county
quote:Originally posted by MFI
Where are you in Western NY ?0 -
Here in my neck of the woods its fine. We dont go thru the Big highs or the bad lows. 0 -
If you draw a square from Chicago to Champaign to Peoria to Rockford, and finally back to Chicago, LaSalle County (Illinois) is in the center.
Now I would think being in the center of all these major cities in Northern Illinois would give us an advantage with employment numbers. LaSalle County also has the intersection of Interstate 80 and Interstate 39, major national north/south and east/west interstates.
Somehow LaSalle County consistently has the highest unemployment of this region.
Should I blame Bush?
No, I blame the county board for their failure to attract new businesses.
Having said all that, business is good. We are the most improved plant the company has in North America. We,ve also mov3ed far ahead of the next closest plant. That means we ain't closing the doors. Also, this years pay will be my personal best.
In short, I am better off than I was last year.
The economy is being good to me!0 -
I just went on 63 thru Batavia last week on way back up to Niagara University .. 0 -
You missed most of the city, 63 is the back door to Batavia. What is MFI?
quote:Originally posted by MFI
I just went on 63 thru Batavia last week on way back up to Niagara University ..0 -
Never better - getting even better!
[:D]0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
40 comments