Thursday, March 12, 2009

Queens consumers cutting back on spending

From Crain's:

The sputtering economy is causing nearly half of consumers in Manhattan and more than 40% of consumers in Queens to tighten their belts — a wave of sudden thriftiness that’s forcing businesses in the two boroughs to curtail hiring and consider layoffs, new surveys by Sovereign Bank and the boroughs’ chambers of commerce show.

In Queens, for instance, 43% of respondents says they are dining out less and 42% say they are changing the way they shop by switching to less expensive supermarkets or searching out sale items. Queens consumers are saving less and putting off major purchases, the joint survey by Sovereign Bank and the Queens Chamber of Commerce showed.

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

PHONY TONY COMO COULD STIMULATE THE ECONOMY BY SELLING HIS HOUSE.

Anonymous said...

No surprises here. I have business with 5 restaurants out in Queens, some of these for 14-19 years.

I have never seen it this slow.

Even when people do eat out, they will order a soda or water instead of a shake and share one serving of some portion of the meal.

What is really sickening is hearing scum buckets such as Limbaugh and Hannity blaming Obama for this condition. These cretins spent the 8 bush years blaming Clinton, but 7 weeks into Obama's adm it's suddenly his fault.

These talk show host are pure vermin.

Anonymous said...

Lino

You are sooooo right

Anonymous said...

Right-o!

So WTF does that bovine bitch Granny Shulman have to screw around with Willets Point for?

NOBODY'S SPENDING ANY MONEY...
EXCEPT US TAXPAYERS FOR HER OUTLANDISH SALARY AS DIRECTOR
OF THAT DAMN BOONDOGGLE!

Those existing businesses there will become even more necessary
for folks as this plummeting economy continues!

Yo go and soak your head in the Flushing Creek too Evan...
at low tide!

Anonymous said...

Best of luck with your restaurants. I try to make it a habit to cut back on restaurant spending during the good times and kick it up a bit during the bad. This way I can save a few dollars when prices are high and help support the employment of hardworking restaurant workers during the bad.

I am also recommending to all of my friends who are employed and not in debt to start buying clothes now. I have snagged $155.00 Jones of New York cashmeres for under $30.00 in Macys and $70.00 aerosole shoes for $10.00. If you need it, buy it now to stop the spread of economic cancer. It's win win.

Anonymous said...

"I have snagged $155.00 Jones of New York cashmeres for under $30.00 in Macys and $70.00 aerosole shoes for $10.00."


Thanks for the tip, anonymous! You got me in the mood to go to Macy's today.

Anonymous said...

Hell its not stopping them from planning for 100,000s of more people.

So things can't be all that bad.

If it was really that bad you would protest cut backs on those vital things that your families need rather than having your taxes taken from your pocket to subsidize developers, right?

Or all you just doormats, idle witnesses as you and your communities are ground up into dogfood?

Anonymous said...

Right on "Italian Girl"....
I just picked up a pair of Geoffrey Beane slacks for $19.95
and two Geoffrey Beane shirts for $9.99 apiece at Macy's/Flushing!

I'm going back for those high quality Bostonian loafers I like at just $85.00!

Old Navy looks empty there these days.

Maybe RH is the only success story left in that butt-hole of a town!

faster340 said...

I agree about the cut backs. I was in Kmart the other day and the parking lot and store were empty. Then went to Sears and found the same thing.

Anonymous said...

"If it was really that bad you would protest cut backs on those vital things that your families need rather than having your taxes taken from your pocket to subsidize developers, right?"

Missing:
People WILL be protesting as soon as the cuts affect THEM. It really hasn't hit anyone yet what's about to happen.
And we are NOT idle witnesses to the destruction of our neighborhoods. We DO make noise about the "crap" there. In some cases, we do have small victories. But how can you go up against a huge machine like Bloomie and the real estate industry?$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Anonymous said...

What's RH?

I cannot even begin to say how disappointed I am that Fortunoff is going out of business. I knew there was trouble when their after-Christmas sale was crap. Macy's I can actually take or leave, but Fortunoff will be missed.

Anonymous said...

I went to Dee's Pizza last Saturday evening and I was glad to see that it was so crowded I had to get my order to go.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I'd love to eat out and shop -- anything to stimulate the economy, but I have a bailout to pay for!

georgetheatheist said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
faster340 said...

"What's RH?"

This article is about the department store chain, R. H. Macy Co..

R. H. Macy & Co. Image:Co
Type Private (Subsidiary of Macy's, Inc.)
Founded 1858
Headquarters Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Industry Retail
Products Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares.
Revenue ▲US$ 26.32 billion (FY2007)
Operating income ▲US$ 1.863 billion(FY2007)
Net income ▲US$ 893 million (FY2007)
Employees 182,000 (2008)
Parent Macy's, Inc.
Website www.macys.com

Macy's is a chain of mid to high range American department stores. Its flagship store in Herald Square, New York City has been billed as the "world's largest store" since 1924, although today it ties with London's Harrods in vastness of selling space. The company has designated additional regional flagships in major urban centers and operates a total of 810 U.S. stores (as of September 2008).[1]

The company produces the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, a well known parade which has been held on the streets of New York City annually since 1924. The company also sponsors the city's annual Fourth of July fireworks display, which began in 1976.

Got it IG?

Anonymous said...

....The company also sponsors the city's annual Fourth of July fireworks display, which began in 1976....I wonder if this year's display will be less theatrical considering the economy or do you think that they would still go all out for "optimism" and "patriotism"...Hmmmmm

georgetheatheist said...

Italian "girl": "What's RH?"

The first initials of the founder of Macy's department stores: Rowland Hussey Macy, Sr. A former seaman from New England who became a pre-eminent entrepreneur in mid-19th century New York.

BTW, the red star emblem on Macy's facades is not some crypto-Communist symbol but rather a commemoration of a red star tatoo that Macy had on his hand, probably received during his sea-faring days. He died on a European sojourn in Paris at the age of 54 and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. He left his son a pittance as an inheritance since the latter was a drunkard.

Anonymous said...

Hey faster:

Was all of that really necessary?
:(

I'm starting to feel kinda bad here. After all it was just a simple question.

faster340 said...

"Was all of that really necessary?
:(

I'm starting to feel kinda bad here. After all it was just a simple question."

And you were given an answer. I am sorry if it offended you. Jeez sorry for enlightening you.

Anonymous said...

Yikes! And she's a school teacher, too.

Anonymous said...

who the f- calls it r.h. macy's? you people need to get your nose out of the f-books and into the real world

R.H. Macy's -

hahahahahahahahehehehehehehehohohohohohohohohoho

georgetheatheist said...

Anonymous #5 did.

Our noses are not only in books but on the internet as well. We are internet scholars!

[Queens Crap blogsite is soooo educational!]

georgetheatheist said...

:o)

Anonymous said...

Faster, I could have sworn your post had a sarcastic tone. If you were really being sincere, I truly apologize.
If you WERE being sarcastic, well then, :P.

Anonymous said...

"Yikes! And she's a school teacher, too."

No need to hide under an anonymous post. I can sense your evil a mile away.
Animal.

Anonymous said...

Where's muh dough?

Anonymous said...

Missing:
People WILL be protesting as soon as the cuts affect THEM. It really hasn't hit anyone yet what's about to happen.
-----

But the cuts have been eroding our quality of life for quite some time now - and the pace is accelerating.

It almost seems that this economic climate simply furnishes an excuse for turning the screws even faster on us, and outside the ritualistic speech or two, when the reporters leave, the cameras are turned off, and we all have to get home to our families, the boys just get together and act as if its business as usual.

Then we hear about one breathless development scheme after another, without the least concern on infrastructure costs by our officials. They blandly mislead and play on the public's fears like Yo-Yo Ma plays the cello.

Resources are diverted away from our families. Services, funded by our taxes that should go to our families and into our communities, are instead sent straight into the developers' pockets.

And no, I do not see people protesting this in the least.

Like a frog being cooked as you turn up the heat, we just sit ... numb

Anonymous said...

Actually one thing I have always admired about Macys is that they had a plaque in their store to honor all the employees who gave their lives in World War II.

They also had another plaque to honor Mr. Strauss and his wife. He was the elderly Macy's executive whose wife refused to leave the Titantic without him. He refused to take a seat in a lifeboat meant for a woman or a child so both perished together. That was when people and companies had class.

Anonymous said...

yea, your shopping areas are about to take a permanent step down from the last vestage of middle class market and all you can do is foam on and on about macys.

Anonymous said...

No shopping without money. At least we have nostalgia.

Anonymous said...

Geez...sorry I even brought up "RH".

But I surely got some info I never new before.....thanks to "QC"...
short for "QUEENS CRAP" of course!

Note:
In "olden days" we made a distinction between shopping and spending.

The latter meant laying down cash. The former meant just looking 'til we found something worthwhile and affordable.

There's a whole lot of looking going on these days....but no heavy buying in traditional retail stores.

Some of us have even found some high class thrift shops in Manhasset where you can pick up a
virgin wool Brooks Brothers Harris tweed sport coat for $5-$10!

So who the f--k needs Bloomingdales!

Next stop Chinatown to get me a bogus Rolex.