"The US retail industry reported one of the worst holiday seasons in nearly four decades."
"Filene's Basement to close 11 stores; Framingham site will go amid rent quarrels" by Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff | January 21, 2009
Filene's Basement, the landmark Boston merchant that claims to have invented the bargain, yesterday said it is planning to close nearly one-third of its 36 stores, including one in Framingham.
The chain, famed for its annual "Running of the Brides" wedding gown sale, has been unable to negotiate rent reductions at 11 locations and plans to shutter those stores by the end of February, according to Julie Davis, general counsel of Retail Ventures Inc., the parent company of Filene's Basement. In addition to the Framingham location, stores to be closed include three in Maryland, two in Illinois, two in Pennsylvania, and one each in New Jersey, New York, and Virginia....
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The store closings come weeks after the US retail industry reported one of the worst holiday seasons in nearly four decades, with sales declining about 2.8 percent, according to the National Retail Federation, a Washington, D.C., trade group....
"No one is immune to the tough economic environment. Even the lower-end of the market is having a hard time finding growth," said Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst for NPD Group, a market research firm based in Port Washington, N.Y....
Nope, NO ONE except the WAR PROFITEERS!!
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"Bose plans to cut about 1,000 jobs" by Robert Weisman, Globe Staff | January 21, 2009
The woes of Circuit City, the holiday shopping season, and the automotive industry are taking their toll on Framingham audio equipment maker Bose Corp., analysts said.
Battered by the slumping economy and setbacks in the consumer electronics business, Bose yesterday said it will cut about 1,000 jobs, roughly 10 percent of its global workforce.
The privately held company wouldn't say how many positions would be eliminated at its corporate headquarters overlooking the Massachusetts Turnpike or how many workers it employs there. Bose issued a statement saying it was "restructuring its operations in response to the decline of the global economy, and its impact on consumer spending."
It said the cutback would affect unspecified "select areas, including manufacturing." Industry analysts said all consumer electronics manufacturers and retailers have been hurt by the deepening recession, which recently has pinched spending by affluent consumers - an important part of Bose's customer base - as well as low- and middle-income buyers....
Yeah, it's always the RICH FIRST in the PRO-RICH, PRO-CORPORATE PAPERS!
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And you know what you have to do when you lose the job, right?
Steak becomes hamburger, and....
"Bargain-hungry fill up on pasta" by Associated Press | January 21, 2009
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - As struggling consumers turn to casseroles, soup, pasta salad, and good old macaroni and cheese to stretch their food dollars, the nation's pasta makers are returning to a rolling boil after many years overshadowed by the low-carbohydrate fad.
Sales of pasta products in the United States - including frozen and refrigerated pasta, canned pasta, soup mixes, and prepared dinners - rose 5 percent last year to $6.4 billion, according to Kansas City-based American Italian Pasta Co., the nation's largest manufacturer of dry pasta.
Most of that increase came as manufacturers passed along a stiff jump in the price of wheat and other costs....
Judy Donnellan, 45, was shopping for macaroni at a grocery store in Kansas City yesterday and said her family eats pasta about three or four times a week. She said she couldn't tell if she was buying pasta more than before but said the staple's price and flexibility "is basically why I use it."
"It's simple and cheap and I have kids and that's something they like. When they sell it for, like, four for $1, I stock up."
Translation: Prepare for a further drop in living standards, Americans, if not outright starvation.
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Truth is, we should all be vegans -- then the whole world (plus animals) could eat.
