Report from "Main Street" about the economy (wholesale, credit, money)

[Refugee56]

I just got back from our local huge regional shopping center. I was there form 12 pm to 1:00 which is the lunch hour and usually the food court and restaurants are just jammed. I have been going to this Mall for lunch for almost ten years now and have never seen it so quiet during lunch.

In this first person report from Main Street, I can report that people are scared and most people I know have cut down their spending to the absolute minimum. No shopping for luxury items or meals out.

I am still shocked at the Mall, I had never seen anything like this before.

This is a middle class mall which is what we should be watching. The cash register rings 10 times at a middle class mall for every time it rings at a fancy spot. Most people are still middle class, at least yesterday they were.

What is your report today from Main Street in your community?

[FrankTheTank2]

At the "upscale" mall near me people are still shopping. This is the place where you can not pronounce half the store names and all the ladies pull in with their Mercedes and Lexus SUVs.

All of their money has been safely protected, heck, they are probably in funds shorting the economy and doing well right now. Its the "average" folks that are going to get hit and hit hard with this mess.

[ocnymonty]

I work in book publishing. Our business is down 12% YTD and our category is down 23% the last two months. I have three large reseller accounts on credit hold. Two are independent resellers and one is one of the largest media wholesalers in the country... One account, the 10th largest in terms of total revenue... just confided to me they probably wouldn't make it through the next business quarter.