Rank: Member
Joined: 12/23/2003(UTC)
Posts: 909
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Absolutely do not want to know numbers, that's rude!
Every top of the hour NPR tells me how bad the economy is and how retail sales are down. I was wondering how everybody is doing. |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 2/21/2007(UTC)
Posts: 1,113
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we're pretty flat here -- no big drop. But that is a plus for us as this time of year drops off in our business. My customers think of their bird stuff as they would necessities for their families, so it's a basic staple. |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 3/3/2006(UTC)
Posts: 1,737
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Retail sales are down, but not anywhere near panic levels - I've been this slow before, not a problem. My normal week keeps me in the shop 50+ hours, I kinda need a break. I sell to people who typically have good jobs, higher income, pricey neighborhoods. They get nervous, not broke.
I sell through some resellers and I can compare their purchase order numbers (a great sales volume indicator) month-to-month from last year. A few of them may not make it to summer if they stay this slow. |
Optimists invent airplanes,
Pessimists buy parachutes. |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 12/23/2003(UTC)
Posts: 909
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Mitch, do your resellers sell online? if so, do they stray from list price? do you ever hear a reseller complain that you sell direct? |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 4/28/2003(UTC)
Posts: 141
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actually our sales are running a little better than last year which is surprising to me. Richard www.somethingmorestore.com
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Rank: Member
Joined: 3/3/2006(UTC)
Posts: 1,737
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Matt, they know that I need to sell some retail to survive $$. We have an understanding that they don't undercut me, I don't undercut them.
When you don't NEED your resellers, you can make the rules. If they all went t!ts-up and I only picked up half of their sales volume, I'd likely make more money. |
Optimists invent airplanes,
Pessimists buy parachutes. |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 1/30/2008(UTC)
Posts: 215
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Any non-essential business expenditures are being cut. It got bad quickly in September - there was an immediate drop around the first bailout. Momentum was regained in October and November and the bottom fell out again a week or two ago. Most competitors, counterparties and suppliers we talk to are down 10-40% this year. UPS is slow, Fedex slow, even the USPS is slow. On the macro-economic scale it's obvious it's a harsh situation. Office Depot is closing 10% of their stores, rumors of many other chains on the edge or going under and even the Government now is cutting back. Q4 08 will be among the worst a lot of younger folks have seen and Q1 2009 has the potential to be one of the worst in generations. I'm sure many of you have noticed that the media and economic reports seem to lag what we see in our businesses. Business took a bad turn last fall and it wasn't until a month ago that the Government acknowledged growth contracted. I think it's much worse in the last 3 months than they know, and believe based on the initial reports from malls and online retailers we're heading into a very bad stretch. In a normal period of contraction any B2B has to deal with the millions of fewer potential customers that may find their products that are on the unemployment line. In this case we all have to deal with that, the credit crisis, rampant fear and everything else. We've had a good year of growth but almost all of it was through offline legwork, social marketing and some good fortune. Online business was slow. PromoManagers
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