We Surrender: sign of the hard times

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

The Pet Store in Northwood Plaza on Stellhorn Road in Fort Wayne, Indiana went out of business back in August. The message painted in the storefront window says it perfectly: "We Surrender. Store Closing."

9-20-11

Shot with Ilford Delta 3200 at EI-3200 in a Leica with 35mm C-Biogon.

 

[FalseDigital]

Mom and Pop Shops are a thing of the past in most of America.

 

[jesse1dog]

And you think it's hard times now - wait till next year!

jesse

 

[dct]

Mom and Pop Shops are a thing of the past in most of America.

Same in Europe. Ten years ago in our village there was a butchery, a dairy shop, a bakery, a greengrocery and a hair salon.

Today we have a common grocery, two hair salons and a nail bar 😕 Nice progress to the important things of live...

 

[claacct]

And you think it's hard times now - wait till next year!

jesse

One store is closing in some small town and suddenly its Armageddon...

 

[rdeleskie]

I grew up in a small town and watched the mom & pop shops disappear back in the 1980s. The downtown became a ghost town. By the early-90s they had started to come back as entrepreneurs learned to cater to the new needs of consumers, primarily those looking for an alternative to the big box stores at the malls and in the suburbs.

While the current recession is certainly hurting small business owners, I don't think it's the only or even main reason for many of them going under. Over the past 30 years, big box stores such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Best Buy, and Chapters (in Canada) have changed the retail landscape across North America. Wal-Mart makes damn sure there's no way Mom & Pop can compete on price, so M&P try to compete on service, variety, specialty goods, etc. When it comes time for belt-tightening, the "rational consumer" abandons Mom & Pop and heads back to Wal-Mart to save money. Economic downturns such as the extended one we are in merely exacerbate an already precarious situation for many small and mid-size businesses, but they didn't cause the underlying structural weakness.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

One store is closing in some small town and suddenly its Armageddon...

Its actually a large city, there have been MANY places closed by the recession here, and real unemployment is nearly 30% here.

 

[paulfish4570]

what this closing means for the owner and his family is financial armageddon ...

well-caught, with a heart, Chris.

(edited)

 

[Frontman]

Overhead expenses for small businesses have become ridiculous. Rent/mortgage, property tax and insurance, utilities, utility taxes, license fees, etc. Then you need to add payroll, and then your part of insurance, unemployment contributions, federal income tax, and state income tax if your are unfortunate enough to live in such a state.

After so many expenses, there isn't much left over. The profit margin for large retailers is usually less than 5% after all is said and done. Small retailers can't survive on such small margins, times are tough.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Times are tough. We frequent small, family run restaurants by design. Enough so that the waitress' kid feels comfortable enough to sit down with us when we come in, and show us the latest in the coloring book.

I suspect that small, family run restaurants are doing better than other shops. But We frequent them as well, and often will buy something just because we like talking with the shop keeper.

It's one of those cases that if you ignore them, they will go away. And that is too bad.

 

[gb hill]

what this closing means for the owner and his family is financial armageddon ...

well-caught, with a heart, Chris.

(edited)

Seconded...Very well said Paul!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

what this closing means for the owner and his family is financial armageddon ...

well-caught, with a heart, Chris.

(edited)

Thanks Paul, and everyone else who responded. It is financial armageddon, especially since they're unlikely to find jobs elsewhere right now.

 

[Snowbuzz]

Sad to see. But nice picture.

 

[d_ross]

This, sadly, is happening everywhere including New Zealand, but we have it in our power, to some degree, to halt or make change by supporting small businesses. The reality though is different. For example I can buy a good art-photography book at a local family owned bookshop here for $140 or I can buy it from the book depository for about $80. What do you do?

 

[Out to Lunch]

Without a heart which is what the American Dream was about all along: let the most performing or cheapest competitor win. A zero sum game: we win and you lose. Which was good for Indiana when the USA was out-performing the competition.

Today its bitter grapes and lets hope someone finds a cure. In my mind, tomorrow is all about education, brain power and new ideas and the USA is way behind...

 

[TXForester]

Nice picture.

As far as mom and pop stores go, I'd just like to say Walmat s@cks. Unfortunately, for certain items, it is either go there or wait till I'm in the area of an alternative. If I need it now, then it's Wallyworld. 🙁

 

[d_ross]

Without a heart which is what the American Dream was about all along: let the most performing or cheapest competitor win. A zero sum game: we win and you lose. Which was good for Indiana when the USA was out-performing the competition.

Today its bitter grapes and lets hope someone finds a cure. In my mind, tomorrow is all about education, brain power and new ideas and the USA is way behind...

Totally agree, for here as well, education is the key, along with a little political honesty, but that's probably asking too much!

 

[zauhar]

Chris, excellent photo. I am very sorry for the invisible suffering that has beset these folks, day-to-day calamities that I can readily imagine. Magnify that by the untold millions out of work.

Regarding education - as a college prof I hate to say this, that at the moment that ain't the answer. Companies know that they can hire scientists and engineers in their "overseas markets", many trained here in the US, for a relative pittance. That destroys the wages for the educated workforce here, and many are lucky to find any job at all. Corporate America wants you "educated" to the extent that you will be mired in debt and a willing serf (should you be so lucky as to be shown to a cubicle). There may be a few nice jobs left at Apple, but that will not do anything for 50 million un- and under-employed.

My best students can still find jobs, but they are relatively low-paid positions in the academic world. They are fine as entry-level jobs, but at the moment I see few opportunities to progress beyond that.

About the only positive thing that I can say to them is that they will have a lot of practical experience on their CV when - and if - things change.

Randy

 

[d_ross]

Randy you make it sound like the American dream has become the American nightmare! which it possibly is. what is the answer then, how do you redistribute wealth if it's not you that has the wealth?

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Chris, excellent photo. I am very sorry for the invisible suffering that has beset these folks, day-to-day calamities that I can readily imagine. Magnify that by the untold millions out of work.

Regarding education - as a college prof I hate to say this, that at the moment that ain't the answer. Companies know that they can hire scientists and engineers in their "overseas markets", many trained here in the US, for a relative pittance. That destroys the wages for the educated workforce here, and many are lucky to find any job at all. Corporate America wants you "educated" to the extent that you will be mired in debt and a willing serf (should you be so lucky as to be shown to a cubicle). There may be a few nice jobs left at Apple, but that will not do anything for 50 million un- and under-employed.

My best students can still find jobs, but they are relatively low-paid positions in the academic world. They are fine as entry-level jobs, but at the moment I see few opportunities to progress beyond that.

About the only positive thing that I can say to them is that they will have a lot of practical experience on their CV when - and if - things change.

Randy

I agree. I never found a job after college, and I know hundreds of grads with bachelors and masters degrees who have never found any job, or are working for $8 an hour.

Even if companies weren't hiring people from poor countries at pennies on the dollar, education still isn't the answer. We cannot all be engineers, doctors, and lawyers. There is a limit to how many of those that our society needs. We also need laborers, cashiers, waitresses, mechanics, construction workers, service workers.

The problem is, those jobs do exist in large numbers but pay HALF the actual cost of living. That's here in Indiana where it is cheap to live. How the hell do people in places like New York, where rent on a tiny apartment can be $1200 a month or more, do it when so many jobs pay $8 an hour? You can't live on that in Fort Wayne, where an apartment is $600.

I damn near starved, literally, after college. If it had not been for the generosity of others, I would not be here now because my family did not care if I lived or died. After years of struggle, I am finally making enough to live and support my son. I am more thankful than you can imagine that I do need to go begging some business for a job here today. Even if someone would hire me (unlikely), I'd still end up on the streets hungry again because the pay would not be enough to pay rent and feed us.