Title: Downtown Shopping, or lack of
same...
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of bounced message:
Dean
and Michael are both right. I live about 2 miles straight north of
Downtown and seldom shop there. Why? The first problem is getting
there. We have no usable bus service from Hawthorne to Downtown- the
Lyndale line is a mugger's hangout and the Washington line, on
relatively safe turf, only runs during rush hour. So why drive down
and spend $$$ for parking in hopes of finding something. Dayton's is
gone, and Marshall Fields et al have nothing affordable. I can shop at
a joke of a Target on the Northside (at least the parking is free, and
the lot pretty empty) or a decent one Northeast near work. So why
bother going downtown to shop at a city subsidized Target and pay for
parking?
But
what most Northsiders do is drive out to Fleet Farm, WalMart,
Ridgedale, and if necessary Brookdale for our shopping.
The
economy is on life support too... I've spent the last 11 holiday
seasons working at either the Postal Service or UPS. This is the
slowest holiday season I've seen. Even slower than last years post
9/11 shell shocked recession.
Minneapolis is in for a rough couple of years. The "for
sale" signs are multiplying like weeds, a sure sign that the real
estate market is about to deflate. The "for rent" signs are
reappearing for the first time in years, and the newfound availability
of on street parking belies the truth- people are voting with their
feet, saying goodbye to Minneapolis crime and looming tax
increases.
Hanging
on in Hawthorne (after 60 years here),
Dyna
Sluyter
Dean Carlson says, of shopping downtown
Tues night,
> By far the most disappointing
> experience downtown at Christmas ever. Hope it was just a
bad
> night, not a trend.
Light rain and cooler weather may have kept folks home Tues. night.
But, as
the STrib article mentions, suburban malls and superstores are
mighty
competitors for our downtown retailers.
Likely as not, it's just a reflection of the overall economy.
With retail
prices slashed everywhere already, just imagine the deals to be found
at the
'after the holiday' sales ahead. Economy shoppers might consider
handing
out personal rainchecks and IOU's to friends and loved ones when
possible,
in hope of realizing significant savings at post holiday sales.
And of course there are all those folks like me, who haven't even
started
holiday shopping yet. The procrastinators. Like the
undecided, independent
voters in elections, we late shoppers cast added uncertainty on all
the
projections of retail analysts everywhere! Econometric
forecasts, beige
books, consumer surveys, Ba Humbug!
Factors to consider:
Reduced public revenues, poor corporate earnings, budget cuts,
layoffs,
higher taxes and stagnant markets don't contribute much to
consumer
confidence nor add much momentum to consumer spending. Low
mortgage rates
continue to fuel home construction, even as price appreciation rates
abate.
Retirees lucky enough to have savings fret over the record-low
interest
rates and their greatly reduced returns-- which they count on to make
ends
meet.
Uncertainty in the mid-east and Venezuela don't bode well for
conventional
energy prices as we finally slide into the winter heating season here
in MN,
and a larger chunk of our disposable income is shipped to
out-of-state/out-of-country fossil-fuel energy producers.
Nationally,
economists debate the merits/probabilities of lower inflation trends
and
deflation in months ahead; and speak of a correction in the housing
market
(a bubble?), lower rents to follow...? all while local
budgeteers continue
to debate local spending priorities and consider new
programs/projects--
after the horse is out of the barn,
so-to-speak.
My advice to local budgeteers; don't
jeopardize the current workout plan.
If anything, take actions that will
reduce the level of proposed local tax
increases. External influences will wreak havoc and you can
count on
unforeseen internal influences popping up. Reduce overhead.
Liquidate real
assets competitively to reduce the local
burden on Mpls. property tax
payers.
Happy Holidays!
Michael Hohmann
Linden Hills
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On
Behalf Of
> Dean Carlson
> Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2002 9:31 PM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: [Mpls] Downtown Shopping
>
>
> Interesting article in the Star Tribune about shopping
downtown:
>
> http://www.startribune.com/stories/1557/3537000.html
>
> We went to our annual christmas downtown excursion tonight.
It was pretty
> bleak. Very few people, the Marshall Fields Christmas show
was
> lame, prices
> slashed everywhere (great for the wallet). By far the most
disappointing
> experience downtown at Christmas ever. Hope it was just a
bad
> night, not a
> trend.
>
> Dean Carlson
> East Harriet, Ward 10
snip
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