Our dry cleaner had it bad when the economy went south.
You’d expect people to cut out dry cleaning when the penny-pinching starts, so it’s not shocking that business would “dry up” (sorry) in a bad economy. Worse than that though, they work on the come:
Step #1: You drop off your stuff.
Step #2: They do all the work.
Step#3: You pick up your stuff and pay.
As you might have guessed, Step #3 slowed down long before #1 and #2. Customers still dropped off their clothes, but took longer to pick them up and pay for them. They were still doing the work, just getting paid less often. Ouch.
We always chat about business when I stop in. They are typical small business owners, just trying to get by in tough times. Yesterday though, I got a new response when I asked, “How’s business?”
Things are getting better, slowly. People are tired of waiting.
Interesting. Go on.
People spent all last year waiting. Watching the news. Wondering when the world was going to blow up. I think they got tired of it. Now they are getting back to their lives.
Is ii that easy?
In 2008, consumer confidence imploded and market panic emerged. Fearful, we watched and waited all year. Then, as Americans do every four years, we united to collectively await the outcome of the presidential election in November.
Then there was December. Most years, nobody wants to do much of anything around the holidays, but last year was different. A few blips showed up on the radar and created some momentum that carried our market into the new year. Adios 2008.
Of course it’s not as easy as deciding to stop waiting for something to happen and start living/spending, but don’t you think the dry cleaner is on to something?
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