I work retail and I can tell you something big is definitely coming

[jeffrey]

"I have worked retail for several years. I am in mid-level store management right now. I don't want to say exactly what company I work for, but it is in the top 3 largest. I work at a store in a major city.

There have been some crazy things going on recently. The changes that we are being asked me make per corporates direction makes me think that the people at the top think something VERY big is going to be happening to the economy soon. I don't think the media or the government is giving us the full details of what is actually going on, but I think the CEO's and others at the top are fully aware and are making plans.

For one thing I check sales every day. At the store level we usually compare what sales are today compared to sales for the same day, week, month, and year last year. Sales at our store, our district, and company wide have taken a HUGE drop compared to the same time last year. When I looked at them today my store and every store in our district was down over 30% for the same time last year. The company as a whole is also in the negative for the same time last year. (but not as much, but it gets lower every day)...

MyProps.org - "I work retail and I can tell you something big is definitely coming" - Housing Bubble and Bear Links

[Broken Arrow]

Weeell....

I remember when legitimate IT and IS administrators would get online and talk about how we were not prepared for Y2K. What they saw wasn't wrong, but sometimes, personal anecdotes about unusual events doesn't always amount to the apocalypse....

True, this recession is different in some ways, but... it seems to me all the recessions have been different in some ways. Kind of like all the car accidents I've had in the past. Despite all of them being accidents, they were all different in some ways as well. But I'm still alive!

So, we'll just have to see.

[LuxLiving]

And, BA, my response is about the same - Trust, but verify, and make some varying degrees of preparations that suit my comfort level with the proposed crisis situation just in case.

That idea of living lean to begin with has always had a special appeal to me anyway. I'd rather not be caught w/my drawers down so to speak, KWIM? If I can keep our basic lifestyle & financial committments in line w/worst case scenarios I'm hoping me and mine will be okay.

What was the Y2K saying? Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. Hopefully the fallout will float out somewhere near the middle or be a non-event.

[Brokemofo]

Personally, I've never been scared of my security or the economy...until now. Based on what I've seen happening from inside the banking industry, and not because they shut down my entire division, I'm very scared. It's going to be a bumpy ride folks.