What is going to happen next?

clobber_2

In sunny Leicester, a new shopping centre has recently opened. It's very nice (if you like that sort of thing) with a few eateries and a big John Lewis, as well as an Apple store and various trendy clothing shops and luxury jewelers.

Every time I have been it has been absolutely rammed. Heaving. Standing room only. I wanted some external speakers for my laptop but gave up because I couldn't physically get into the Apple Store. The restaurants have queues out of the doors at almost any time of day.

I was musing aloud on the subject the other day. Seems such an unfortunate time to open such a temple to rampant consumerism. I can't help imagining it in a years or so's time when half the shops are boarded up.

My OH reckons Leicester will be protected from the worst of the financial crisis because of the large Muslim population, who by and large don't use credit, and as a result operate in an almost completely separate economy, which often seems to be doing well when the larger economy is struggling. I'm not so sure - I think the problems this time round are big enough to have a significant effect on the Muslims as well. Only time will tell. But thinking back, whenever I have actually bought something from this shopping centre, I haven't had to queue to pay. These hoards of people are "just looking" - shopping as a pastime despite not actually having any money to spend?

lostinrates

clobber wrote: »

In sunny Leicester, a new shopping centre has recently opened. It's very nice (if you like that sort of thing) with a few eateries and a big John Lewis, as well as an Apple store and various trendy clothing shops and luxury jewelers.

Every time I have been it has been absolutely rammed. Heaving. Standing room only. I wanted some external speakers for my laptop but gave up because I couldn't physically get into the Apple Store. The restaurants have queues out of the doors at almost any time of day.

I was musing aloud on the subject the other day. Seems such an unfortunate time to open such a temple to rampant consumerism. I can't help imagining it in a years or so's time when half the shops are boarded up.

My OH reckons Leicester will be protected from the worst of the financial crisis because of the large Muslim population, who by and large don't use credit, and as a result operate in an almost completely separate economy, which often seems to be doing well when the larger economy is struggling. I'm not so sure - I think the problems this time round are big enough to have a significant effect on the Muslims as well. Only time will tell. But thinking back, whenever I have actually bought something from this shopping centre, I haven't had to queue to pay. These hoards of people are "just looking" - shopping as a pastime despite not actually having any money to spend?

Bristol has just seen Cabot Circus open...a Havey Nics in the SW, and a big shopping centre....there is already a big mall with John Lewis and a massive retail park on the M5 (Cribbs Causeway). I remember The big Kingston Upon Thames store Bentalls opened a department store in Bristol maybe 10-11 ish years ago and I don't think it even lasted a year....presumaby times were better then? I felt I would go up and have a look, but have decide to wait until the first sales are on.

Max_Headroom_3

We went to Cabot Circus in Bristol a couple of weekends ago. Some great shops there with some lovely stuff.

The place was rammed (well it was a weekend I guess). "So much for the credit crunch" says my OH.

"Look again" says I, "how many of them are carrying bags?"

The answer was, not many. Lots and lots of lookers, not many shoppers. We spent a pleasant couple of hours there looking at all the nice stuff. Didn't buy anything though, got no spare cash.

Dithering_Dad

lostinrates wrote: »

I hope your job is safe DD.

My job is never safe, lir. I get made 'redundant' every 6 to 9 months once I've finished my work and the project has been implemented.

Strangely I think this makes me more recession [strike]proof [/strike] resistant than many because I expect to lose my job (contract) and so it's not as devastating as people who have worked within a company for 10 years and have invested a lot of time & emotion there.

I also have to keep my skills up to date and I am prepared to work anywhere in the UK and western europe. Also, I probably have a much larger emergency pot than most people and simply can't commit to long-term finance (credit) because my job is always so short-term, hence I have no debts, not even a car loan.

moanymoany

clobber wrote: »

My OH reckons Leicester will be protected from the worst of the financial crisis because of the large Muslim population, who by and large don't use credit, and as a result operate in an almost completely separate economy, which often seems to be doing well when the larger economy is struggling. I'm not so sure - I think the problems this time round are big enough to have a significant effect on the Muslims as well. Only time will tell. But thinking back, whenever I have actually bought something from this shopping centre, I haven't had to queue to pay. These hoards of people are "just looking" - shopping as a pastime despite not actually having any money to spend?

We have a large Muslim population. I used to be involved with some Women's groups and I know they live frugally and save a lot of money. Very often it is the women who hold the purse strings. They are great savers.

Locally most taxi drivers are Muslims. The taxi's are the some of the first people to suffer when people cut back - a taxi driver told me his income has gone down a lot since April. Also many work in airport related jobs and they have also been hit. So locally the Muslims here will be hit.

chickadee

I agree moanymoany. Even though the muslim population won't be hit by lack of available credit, they often run shops and factories, (and indeed work in them) and if there aren't the same number of customers for their goods they will feel the pinch like the rest of us.

slipthru

Yea so far other than media say so i haven't seen it affect anyone i know personally either. So it is all kind of hear say so far.

Generali

The credit crunch and the stock market crash both have one impact which is the same in both cases - it becomes more expensive for companies to raise money to invest. This means that projects get shelved so people are not hired to set them up and then run them.

They then don't buy stuff so shops lay off staff and so on.

IveSeenTheLight

Max_Headroom wrote: »

We went to Cabot Circus in Bristol a couple of weekends ago. Some great shops there with some lovely stuff.

The place was rammed (well it was a weekend I guess). "So much for the credit crunch" says my OH.

"Look again" says I, "how many of them are carrying bags?"

The answer was, not many. Lots and lots of lookers, not many shoppers. We spent a pleasant couple of hours there looking at all the nice stuff. Didn't buy anything though, got no spare cash.

LOL:rotfl:

Reminds me of here in Malaysia where a lot of the locals on lower wages go to the shopping malls for the Air Con they dont have in their own homes.
Seems they prefer to spend a huge part of the day going round the shops without any carrier bags than to staying at home

Generali

Well it looks like the Fed has a policy response to problems with companies being able to borrow short term using commercial paper*. They are going to buy it themselves.

In short, the Fed is starting to become what used to be called a merchant bank (yeah funny).




*Commercial paper is a way to borrow money short term for an existing project. Traditionally it was used by merchants if they needed finance between the time when they bought a load of something and selling it again. This sort of finance was how the Lombardis first got going as bankers and is why we have a banking industry in London and a road called Lombard Street.