Here on the other side of the world (D.C.), we’re seeing the same thing: malls packed, high-end stores not only staying in business, but opening more branches, Whole Foods selling out of $3.00 Mexican mangos and $7.00 boxed cereals. The bridal/prom business hasn’t taken a hit yet; in fact, their profits have increased at an impressive rate. What really floors me , however, is the number of new – AND very expensive – cars on the Washington beltway (and all other area roads). When we bought our Prius a couple years back, credit was still extremely tight following the screwups and bailouts. Yet, the dealer confirmed that $40,000 & $50,000 models were flying out the door. The streets of local middle- and working-class suburbs are filled with almost new fully-loaded oversized pickups that are utilized as personal/family vehicles: the average new F-350 Super-Duty is much more likely to have a payload of a gallon of milk and a couple bags of chips than it is to be carrying 30 bags of Sakrete, a pallet of pavers, and a ton of rip-rap.
The latest fast-growing trend in these parts is the two-truck family, in which the responsible parents have determined that the need for both mom and dad to each have a full-size shiny pickup to commute to their office jobs outweighs the concern for the safety and comfort of their 3 or 4 small children who are crowded into the rear truck cab seat where, although they may be forced to share seatbelts, they get to watch videos on the aftermarket DVD players that are just like the ones that dad and mom use in the front. Between the monthly installments on two truck loans, high-interest payments on the credit card used to pay the aftermarket installer, and the twice-weekly gas fill-ups, some area families are paying far more for transportation than they are for shelter.
I know that the job situation here is a little more stable than other areas of the country because of the availability of jobs with the federal government and government contractors. But there’s been plenty of layoffs, and no shortage of peoples who have been laid off for two years and over. I honestly don’t know where the money’s coming from. Housing sales are not terribly brisk, and some neighborhoods are showing significant deterioration due to homeowner property neglect. But from the looks of things, you’d never know that we’re experiencing a severe recession. The crowded shopping malls can be explained by behavior prior to the financial crisis: for many, many people here, shopping was their religion, and they came to the malls to worship. Many had inadequate incomes back then, also, but were able to acquire an endless supply of large-limit credit cards with which they could convince themselves and others of their affluence. Our malls were packed to their limits all the time back then, and articles in local publications featured residents who proudly confessed to spending 20 to 30 hours, or more, per week shopping. Since these people had no other activities in their lives, I didn’t expect an overnight change. But shopping addicts aren’t the same as “window shoppers”: shopping addiction is based on self-gratification, which requires the satisfying of several conditions – most notably, a purchase. I confess to being puzzled by the continuing crowded conditions at the mall, unless it is a case of power shoppers who come in on Saturday and buy stuff, and then come back a few days later to return it. That would certainly explain the low profits for retail.
But the whole new car/truck thing – and not just new, but new *expensive* – has me utterly perplexed. You can’t just stuff one of those in a shopping bag with the receipt, and bring it back to the retailer for a refund. Dealers are selling, and customers are buying, in a big way. The demand is so great that a huge automall is currently being built along the Beltway.
